受冻 (shòu dòng) — to suffer from cold, to be exposed to cold weather

Definition

受冻 means to suffer from the cold or be exposed to cold weather, usually emphasizing discomfort or harm rather than simply feeling chilly. It pairs with verbs like 容易 or 肯定 to highlight risk, and is more serious than everyday expressions like 冷.

verb
to suffer from coldto be exposed to cold weather
Easily confused

Examples

  • ，受冻。
    Dōng tiān chū mén yào duō chuān yī fu, bù rán róng yì shòu dòng.
    When going out in winter, wear more clothes, or you'll easily suffer from the cold.
  • ，。
    Tā zài wài miàn zhàn le liǎng gè xiǎo shí, shòu le dòng.
    He stood outside for two hours and got cold.
  • ，受冻。
    Zhè jiān wū zi méi yǒu nuǎn qì, zhù zài zhè lǐ kěn dìng huì shòu dòng.
    This room has no heating; living here will definitely make you suffer from the cold.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

受shòusuffer
冻dòngfreezing

受 means to suffer, and 冻 is freezing cold, so the word means to suffer from cold.

Characters in this word

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

受 possibly combines 爪 and 又 as hands with 舟 as a boat, to show handing something over.

Open 受 →

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 →

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