咽下 (yàn xià) — to swallow (down); to gulp down

Definition

verb

to swallow (down)to gulp down

咽下。
Tā yì kǒu bǎ yào yàn xià le.
He swallowed the medicine in one gulp.
咽下，。
Tā màn màn dì yàn xià shí wù, pà yē zhe.
She slowly swallowed the food, afraid of choking.
，咽下。
Zhè tiáo yú tài dà le, wǒ hěn nán yàn xià.
This fish is too big; I have difficulty swallowing it.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

The 咽 (swallow) is completed in the 下 (down) direction, meaning gulp down.

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.

口因咽

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

因

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 咽, 口 is mouth, showing it is connected to the mouth or throat; 因 gives the sound.

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

下 is drawn as a short horizontal line below a long curved line.