住口 (zhù kǒu) — (impolite) shut up, stop talking | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Impolite command meaning 'shut up / stop talking'. A separable verb (住…口) that strongly mirrors English "shut up" — harsher than 别说了.

verb

(impolite) shut upstop talking

Examples

住口！。
Nǐ zhù kǒu! bú yào zài shuō le.
Shut up! Don't say any more.
，。
Tā tīng le wǒ de huà, zhōng yú zhù le yí xià kǒu.
After hearing my words, he finally stopped talking for a moment.
，。
Tā gēn běn bú zhù kǒu, yì zhí shuō gè bù tíng.
She absolutely wouldn't shut up, kept talking nonstop.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

住 means stop and 口 mouth; together they literally stop the mouth, i.e. be quiet.

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.

亻主住

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rén

Sound part声符shēngfú

主

主zhǔ住zhù

Same sound today

住 pairs 亻, the person radical (written fully as 人), with 主, which supplies the sound.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 口 looks like an open mouth.

Appears in

Communication & Speech

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