汗水 (hàn shuǐ) — sweat, perspiration | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A countable, slightly more written-style term for 'sweat' than the plain 汗, often used figuratively for hard work (e.g., 汗水 + 辛勤).

noun

sweatperspiration

Examples

汗水。
Tā yùn dòng hòu cā diào liǎn shàng de hàn shuǐ.
After exercising, he wiped the sweat off his face.
汗水。
Měi yì dī hàn shuǐ dōu dài biǎo xīn qín de láo dòng.
Every drop of sweat represents hard work.
，汗水。
Bǐ sài jié shù hòu, tā de hàn shuǐ bǎ chèn shān nòng shī le.
After the game ended, his sweat made his shirt wet.

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.

汗 means sweat and 水 means water, together naming watery sweat.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

干

干gān汗hàn

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

汗 has 水, the water form, beside 干; 水 relates to liquid sweat, while 干 gives the sound.

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

HSK 3.0 Level 5 Body Parts

Browse more HSK 5 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.