凶器 (xiōng qì) — lethal weapon, murder weapon, deadly weapon

Definition

noun
lethal weaponmurder weapondeadly weapon
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 凶器
    Jǐng chá zài xiàn chǎng zhǎo dào le xiōng qì.
    The police found the murder weapon at the scene.
  • 凶器
    Fǎ yī què rèn zhè bǎ dāo jiù shì xiōng qì.
    The forensic examiner confirmed that this knife is the murder weapon.
  • 凶器
    Gù yì shǐ yòng xiōng qì shā rén huì jiā zhòng xíng fá.
    Deliberately using a lethal weapon to kill will increase the penalty.

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.

xiōnglethal
instrument

凶 gives the lethal, violent sense, and 器 is the instrument.

Characters in this word

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

凶 originally drew a hole with a lump of rock, mud, stone, or bamboo in it.

Open 凶 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The origin of 器 is uncertain; one traditional account reads the whole shape as a scene of guarding over four vessels.

Open 器 →

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