出笼 (chū lóng) — (literal) to come out of a steamer (of food); (literal) to come out of a cage (of an animal); (figurative, derogatory) to appear or be released (of something undesirable, e.g. a bad plan)

Definition

Literal: food coming out of a steamer (笼 = steamer), or an animal leaving its cage. Figurative: something bad — a scheme, rumor, or bad product — being let loose, usually with a negative tone.

verb
(literal) to come out of a steamer (of food)(literal) to come out of a cage (of an animal)(figurative, derogatory) to appear or be released (of something undesirable, e.g. a bad plan)

Examples

  • ，。
    Bāo zi chū le lóng, rè qì téng téng.
    The steamed buns came out of the steamer, steaming hot.
  • 出笼。
    Nà ge huài zhǔ yì yì chū lóng jiù zāo dào le pī píng.
    That bad idea was criticized as soon as it came out.
  • ，。
    Niǎo chū le lóng, fēi zǒu le.
    The bird came out of the cage and flew away.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

出chūcome out
笼lóngcage

出 means come out, and 笼 refers to a cage or steamer; together they describe coming out of it.

Characters in this word

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

出 combines 止 (foot) and 凵 (cave) to show a foot stepping out of a cave.

Open 出 →

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 籠; 笼 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
𥫗Written in full as竹zhú
Sound part声符shēngfú
龍
龍lóng籠lóng
Same sound today

The traditional form 籠 is built from 竹 (bamboo) and 龍, which gives the sound. The simplified 笼 is a later shorthand.

Open 笼 →

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