火堆 (huǒ duī) — bonfire; campfire | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

bonfirecampfire

Measure word · 堆

Examples

火堆，。
Dà jiā wéi zuò zài huǒ duī páng, liáo zhe tiān.
Everyone sat around the bonfire, chatting.
。
Tā men zài hǎi tān shàng diǎn le yí gè dà huǒ duī.
They lit a big bonfire on the beach.
火堆。
huǒ duī De huǒ yàn yìng hóng le dà jiā de xiào liǎn.
The flames of the bonfire reddened everyone's smiling faces.

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.

“火” means fire and “堆” means pile, together a pile of fire.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

火 is a simple drawing of a fire, with flames shown rising upward.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

土隹堆

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔearth

Sound part声符shēngfú

隹

隹zhuī堆duī

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

堆 is built from 土 (earth) and 隹, which supplies the sound.

Appears in

Outdoor Recreation

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