TongTong
Sign in

暴风雪 (bào fēng xuě) — snowstorm; blizzard; (figurative) a fierce or overwhelming situation (like a blizzard)

Definition

Literally “violent wind snow,” the standard concrete term for a heavy snowstorm or blizzard (counted with 场). Figuratively it paints an overwhelming, withering situation — e.g. 暴风雪般的批评 (“a blizzard of criticism”).

noun
snowstormblizzard(figurative) a fierce or overwhelming situation (like a blizzard)
Measure word · 场

Examples

  • 暴风雪。
    Zuó tiān zhè lǐ xià le yì chǎng hěn dà de bào fēng xuě.
    Yesterday there was a very heavy snowstorm here.
  • 暴风雪，。
    bào fēng xuě Guò hòu, dì shàng jī le hòu hòu de xuě.
    After the blizzard, a thick layer of snow had accumulated on the ground.
  • 暴风雪，。
    Zài bào fēng xuě bān de pī píng shēng zhōng, tā jiān chí le zì jǐ de guān diǎn.
    Amid a blizzard of criticism, he stuck to his own point of view.

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.

暴bàoviolent
风雪wind and snow
风fēngwind雪xuěsnow
联合Coordinate

暴 means violent and 风雪 means wind and snow, so together they describe a blizzard.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The earliest form paired 虎 and 戈, a tiger and a weapon. The later 暴 came from a picture of hands drying something in the sun.

Open 暴 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 风 →

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

雪 pairs 雨, showing rain, with 彗, giving the sound.

Open 雪 →
Appears in
Weather

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