排挡 (pái dǎng) — gear (of a vehicle) | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

gear (of a vehicle)

排挡，。
Zhè liàng chē yǒu liù gè pái dǎng, huàn dǎng hěn píng shùn.
This car has six gears, and shifting is very smooth.
，排挡。
Kāi shǒu dòng dǎng chē shí, nǐ yào gēn jù chē sù huàn pái dǎng.
When driving a manual car, you need to change gears based on speed.
排挡。
Tā kāi chē shí xí guàn bǎ pái dǎng guà zài kōng dǎng shàng děng hóng dēng.
He is used to putting the car in neutral with the gear in neutral while waiting for a red light.

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.

挡 names a gear position, and 排 specifies that the positions are arranged in a row, so 排挡 denotes a vehicle's gear.

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.

扌非排

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

非

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

排 uses 扌 (hand) to show arranging something with the hand, and 非 for the sound; this gives the sense of placing things in a line.

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 擋; 挡 is its simplified writing.

扌當擋

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

當

當dāng擋dǎng

Same sound today

The traditional form 擋 pairs 扌 (hand) with 當 as the sound part; this note is about 擋, not about the parts of 挡.