挂钟 (guà zhōng) — wall clock

Definition

noun
wall clock
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 挂钟,。
    Kè tīng de guà zhōng yǐ jīng tíng le, xū yào huàn diàn chí.
    The wall clock in the living room has stopped; it needs new batteries.
  • 挂钟,。
    Tā tái tóu kàn le yì yǎn guà zhōng, fā xiàn yǐ jīng bàn yè le.
    He looked up at the wall clock and found it was already midnight.
  • 挂钟。
    Zhè miàn guà zhōng shì yé ye liú xià lái de lǎo wù jiàn.
    This wall clock is an old heirloom left by my grandfather.

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.

挂 means hang, and 钟 is the clock that hangs on a wall.

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 掛; 挂 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺘Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
卦
卦guà掛guà
Same sound today

In the traditional form 掛, the hand part ⺘ and the sound part 卦 show hooking or hanging something with the hand; this form was originally a popular form of 挂.

Open 挂 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 钟 →

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