冷冻库 (lěng dòng kù) — refrigerated storage room; walk-in freezer

Definition

A large walk-in cold storage room or freezer used in supermarkets, warehouses, or restaurants for keeping food frozen or chilled. Think industrial cold room, not a household 冰箱.

noun
refrigerated storage roomwalk-in freezer
Measure word · 间

Examples

  • 冷冻库。
    Tā men bǎ shū cài dōu fàng zài lěng dòng kù lǐ.
    They put all the vegetables in the storage freezer.
  • 冷冻库。
    Zhè ge lěng dòng kù de wēn dù xū yào bǎo chí zài líng xià shí bā dù.
    The temperature of this freezer room needs to be kept at minus eighteen degrees.
  • 冷冻库。
    Chāo shì de lěng dòng kù lǐ cún le hěn duō shuǐ guǒ.
    The supermarket's cold storage room holds a lot of fruit.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

冷冻freezing
冷lěngcold冻dòngfreeze
联合Side by side
库kùstorage room

冷冻 denotes freezing and 库 denotes storage room, giving a freezer.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
冫Written in full as仌bīngice
Sound part声符shēngfú
令
令lìng冷lěng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

冷 uses 冫, the ice form, with 令 as a sound part, to mean cold as ice.

Open 冷 →

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 凍; 冻 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
冫Written in full as仌bīng
Sound part声符shēngfú
東
東dōng凍dòng
Same sound today

The traditional form 凍 pairs 冫 (ice) with 東 for the sound; the simplified 冻 is a later shorthand.

Open 冻 →

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 庫; 库 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
广广guǎngbuilding
Sound part声符shēngfú
車
車jū庫kù
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 庫 pairs 广 (building) with 車 (sound); the building part points to a storehouse. The simplified 库 is a later shorthand.

Open 库 →

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