排水 (pái shuǐ) — to drain (water), to discharge water | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A verb-object phrase meaning to drain or discharge water (from a place, field, or system). Note it's a separable verb: insert a complement or 了/过 between 排 and 水, as in 排过一次水.

verb

to drain (water)to discharge water

Examples

排水。
Bào yǔ hòu gōng rén yòng bèng pái shuǐ.
After the heavy rain, workers used pumps to drain the water.
，。
Zhè kuài dì yǐ jīng pái guò yí cì shuǐ le, hái shì bù xíng.
This field has been drained once, but it still doesn't work.
排水。
Shè jì tú bì xū bāo kuò pái shuǐ xì tǒng.
The design drawings must include a drainage system.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

排 (drain) + 水 (water) means to drain water.

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

非fēi排pái

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.

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

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Appears in

Technology & Engineering

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