流水 (liú shuǐ) — running water; (business, colloquial) turnover;… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literally 'running water' (flowing water, streams). In business it means turnover/sales revenue — related to 周转 (fund circulation) but refers to the revenue stream itself.

noun

running water(business, colloquial) turnoversales revenue

Examples

流水。
Shān lǐ de liú shuǐ qīng chè jiàn dǐ.
The running water in the mountains is crystal clear.
流水。
Zhè jiā chāo shì měi tiān de liú shuǐ chāo guò wǔ wàn.
This supermarket's daily turnover exceeds 50,000.
。
Gōng chǎng de liú shuǐ xiàn dà dà tí gāo le xiào lǜ.
The factory's assembly line has greatly increased efficiency.

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.

流liúflowing

"流" (flowing) and "水" (water) together mean water that moves continuously.

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

水水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

㐬

㐬㐬流liú

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

流 has 水, water, and 㐬, which gives the sound. The water part matches meanings such as flow.

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 7-9 Business & Commerce

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