升降台 (shēng jiàng tái) — lifting platform, elevating platform (e.g., scissor lift, hydraulic lift)

Definition

noun
lifting platformelevating platform (e.g., scissor lift, hydraulic lift)
Measure word · 台

Examples

  • 升降台。
    Gōng rén yòng shēng jiàng tái bǎ huò wù yùn dào gāo chù.
    Workers use a lifting platform to transport goods to a high place.
  • 升降台。
    Zhè ge shēng jiàng tái kě yǐ shēng gāo dào shí mǐ.
    This lifting platform can rise to ten meters.
  • 升降台。
    Wǔ tái xià miàn ān zhuāng le shēng jiàng tái.
    A lifting platform was installed under the stage.

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.

升降rise and lower
联合Side by side
台táiplatform

升 and 降 describe moving up and down, and 台 is the platform that does this.

Characters in this word

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

The shape comes from a drawing of a standard dipper used to measure one 升.

Open 升 →

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
阝Written in full as阜fùhill, wall
Sound part声符shēngfú
夅
夅jiàng降xiáng
Same sound today

降 pairs 阝 (a hill or wall, written in full as 阜) with 夅, a sound part meaning 'to descend'; together they picture descending a hill.

Open 降 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 臺; 台 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 台 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (窗台, 电视台) it is 臺; in others (台灯, 台球) (台风) it is 檯 or 台 or 颱.

The traditional form 臺 is the 喬 + 室 form; earlier versions combined a sound part with 室, and an old reading saw it as a watch tower.

Open 台 →

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