扬鞭 (yáng biān) — to flourish a whip (literary, often in the cont… | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A literary verb meaning 'to flourish/swing a whip', usually depicting a rider urging a horse forward. Modern spoken Chinese prefers 扬起鞭子.

verb

to flourish a whip (literary, often in the context of riding off)

Examples

扬鞭，。
Tā yáng biān cè mǎ, xiàng yuǎn fāng bēn qù.
He flourished his whip and spurred his horse, galloping off into the distance.
扬鞭。
Shī rén yòng yáng biān zhè yí dòng zuò biǎo xiàn háo qíng.
The poet uses the gesture of flourishing a whip to express heroic spirit.
，。
Tā yáng qǐ biān zi, cuī mǎ kuài pǎo.
He raised his whip and urged the horse to run faster.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

扬yánglift/flourish

扬 means to lift or flourish, and 鞭 is a whip, so the word denotes flourishing a whip.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 揚; 扬 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

手手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

昜

昜yáng揚

Same sound today

The traditional form 揚 uses 手 to show a hand-related action and 昜 to give the sound; the simplified 扬 is a later abbreviation.

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

革便鞭

Meaning part形符xíngfú

革革géleather

Sound part声符shēngfú

便

便biàn鞭biān

Same sound today

鞭 pairs 革, meaning leather, with 便, which gives the sound.

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.