手雷 (shǒu léi) — hand grenade

Definition

noun
hand grenade
Measure word · 颗

Examples

  • 手雷,。
    Shì bīng rēng chū yì méi shǒu léi, zhà huǐ le dí rén de yǎn tǐ.
    The soldier threw a hand grenade and destroyed the enemy's bunker.
  • ,手雷。
    Xùn liàn zhōng, tā men xué huì le rú hé ān quán dì shǐ yòng shǒu léi.
    During training, they learned how to safely use hand grenades.
  • ,手雷。
    Zhè ge yóu xì lǐ, shǒu léi de bào zhà fàn wéi hěn dà.
    In this game, the hand grenade has a large blast radius.

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.

雷léimine/grenade

手 'hand' specifies the kind of 雷 'mine/grenade', a handheld explosive.

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.

Open 手 →

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
雨雨yǔrain
Sound part声符shēngfú
畾
畾léi雷léi
Same sound today

The top 雨 (rain) points to the meaning, and the bottom 畾 gives the sound.

Open 雷 →

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