伸懒腰 (shēn lǎn yāo) — to stretch one's body, to stretch oneself | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A fixed everyday phrase meaning 'to stretch (oneself, especially after sitting or waking up).' 懒腰 refers to the relaxed, full-body stretch — not a generic stretch like 拉伸.

verb

to stretch one's bodyto stretch oneself

Examples

，伸懒腰。
Tā zuò lèi le, zhàn qǐ lái shēn lǎn yāo.
He was tired of sitting, stood up and stretched.
，。
Tā shēn le yí gè lǎn yāo, gǎn jué shū fu duō le.
She stretched, feeling much more comfortable.
，。
Zǎo shàng qǐ lái shēn gè lǎn yāo, jīng shén jiù huì hǎo hěn duō.
Stretching in the morning will make you feel much more energetic.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

伸shēnstretch

懒腰lazy waist

懒lǎnlazy腰yāowaist

偏正Modifier + head

'伸' means stretch; '懒' lazy and '腰' waist together name the relaxed body part being stretched.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

亻申伸

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rénman

Sound part声符shēngfú

申

申shēn伸shēn

Same sound today

伸 puts 亻, the side form of 人 (person), next to 申, which gives the sound.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 懶; 懒 is its simplified writing.

忄賴懶

Meaning part形符xíngfú

忄Written in full as心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

賴

賴lài懶lǎn

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 懶 pairs 忄 (heart) with 賴, which gives the sound; the simplified 懒 is a later shorthand.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

⺼Written in full as肉ròuflesh

Sound part声符shēngfú

要

要yào腰yāo

Same sound today

The left part ⺼ is flesh; the right part 要 gives the sound.

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.