歇脚 (xiē jiǎ) — to stop walking and rest one's feet, to take a break from walking

Definition

歇脚 means to pause a walk or journey and rest one's feet — usually sitting down briefly, not an overnight stay. It can split as 歇歇脚 or 歇一会儿脚, with 脚 as the object.

verb
to stop walking and rest one's feet, to take a break from walking

Examples

  • ，歇脚。
    Zǒu le sān gè xiǎo shí, wǒ men zhǎo gè dì fāng xiē jiǎ ba.
    We've walked for three hours — let's find a place to rest our feet.
  • ，。
    Tā zài lù biān xiē le yí huì r jiǎo, yòu jì xù gǎn lù.
    He stopped by the roadside and rested his feet for a while, then continued his journey.
  • 。
    Wǒ men xiē xiē jiǎo zài shàng shān ba.
    Let's rest a bit before climbing the mountain.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

歇xiērest
脚jiǎofeet

歇 means rest and 脚 means feet, so the picture is stopping to rest one's feet.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
欠欠qiàn
Sound part声符shēngfú
曷
曷hé歇xiē
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

歇 uses 曷 for its sound hé and 欠 for its meaning.

Open 歇 →

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 腳; 脚 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺼Written in full as肉ròumeat, body
Sound part声符shēngfú
卻
卻què腳jiǎo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 腳 uses ⺼ for a body part and 卻 for the sound; the simplified 脚 is a later shorthand.

Open 脚 →

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