手钻 (shǒu zuān) — hand drill | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

手钻 (shǒu zuàn) is a hand-held manual drill tool. It contrasts with 电钻 (HSK 6), the powered electric drill — same verb 钻, but 手 is operated by hand.

noun

hand drill

Measure word · 把

手钻。
Shī fu yòng shǒu zuān zài mù bǎn shàng zuàn le yí gè xiǎo kǒng.
The craftsman used a hand drill to make a small hole in the wooden board.
，。
Zhè bǎ shǒu zuān yòng le shí jǐ nián le, yī rán hěn hǎo yòng.
This hand drill has been used for over ten years and still works very well.
，。
Tā bǎ shǒu zuān guà zài gōng jù qiáng shàng, fāng biàn xià cì shǐ yòng.
He hung the hand drill on the tool wall for easy use next time.

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.

手 means hand and 钻 means drill, so 手钻 is a hand drill.

Characters in this word

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

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 鑽; 钻 is its simplified writing.

釒贊鑽

Meaning part形符xíngfú

釒Written in full as金jīn

Sound part声符shēngfú

贊

贊zàn鑽zuàn

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

The traditional form 鑽 pairs 釒 (metal) with 贊, which gives the sound; the simplified 钻 is a later shorthand.