失控 (shī kòng) — to go out of control, to lose control

Definition

失控 means something has slipped out of control — the negative outcome of 控制 failing. Used for vehicles, emotions, fires, situations.

verb

to go out of controlto lose control

Examples

失控，。
Qì chē shī kòng, zhuàng shàng le yì kē shù.
The car went out of control and hit a tree.
失控，。
Tā tū rán qíng xù shī kòng, duì zhe rén dà shēng hǎn.
He suddenly lost control.of his emotions and screamed at people.
失控，。
Yào shi huǒ shì shī kòng, hòu guǒ huì hěn yán zhòng.
If the fire goes out of control, the consequences will be severe.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

失shīlose

控kòngcontrol

失 (lose) and 控 (control) together mean out of control.

Characters in this word

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

手手shǒu
乙乙yǐ

The shape is explained as a fallen person's footprint surrounded by drops of blood; another reading pairs 手 (hand) and 乙 to show something falling from a hand.

Open 失 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

扌空控

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

空

空kōng控kòng

Same sound today

The left part is 手 written as 扌, showing a hand; the right part 空 gives the sound.

Open 控 →

Appears in