溺水 (nì shuǐ) — to drown | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

溺水 is specifically 'to drown' — a person dying in water. 淹 covers drowning too but also flooding and being submerged; 淹没 is for land or sound being overwhelmed by water.

verb

to drown

Examples

溺水。
Měi nián xià tiān dōu yǒu yóu kè zài hǎi biān nì shuǐ.
Every summer, tourists drown at the seaside.
溺水。
Tā yīn wèi bú huì yóu yǒng ér nì shuǐ shēn wáng.
He drowned because he couldn't swim.
，溺水。
Jiù yuán rén yuán jí shí gǎn dào, bì miǎn le nì shuǐ shì gù.
The rescuers arrived in time and prevented a drowning accident.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

To 溺 in 水 is to be overwhelmed by 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.

氵弱溺

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

弱

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

The left side 氵 is water; the right side 弱 gives the sound ruò.

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 Safety & Danger

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