助威 (zhù wēi) — to cheer for (a team/contestant), to encourage,… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

助威 is cheering for a team or contestant to lift their morale — louder and more public than 鼓励 ('encourage' someone in general). Compare 欢呼, which is the act of shouting joy, not supporting a side.

verb

to cheer for (a team/contestant)to encourageto boost morale

Examples

助威。
Wǒ men wèi cān sài xuǎn shǒu zhù wēi.
We cheer for the competing athletes.
，。
Zuó tiān bǐ sài, wǒ men gěi zhǔ duì zhù le yì wǎn shàng de wēi.
During yesterday's game, we cheered for the home team all evening.
助威。
Dà jiā dōu qù tǐ yù chǎng wèi qiú duì zhù wēi.
Everyone went to the stadium to cheer for the team.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

威wēiprestige

助 contributes 'boost' and 威 contributes 'prestige', together meaning to boost morale.

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.

且力助

Meaning part形符xíngfú

力力lìstrong arm

Sound part声符shēngfú

且

且qiě助zhù

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

助 pairs 力, a strong arm, with 且, which gives the sound; the meaning is help with strength.

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

戌女威

戌戌xū
女女nǚ

威 is made by combining 戌 and 女.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Sports & Athletics

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