糖葫芦 (táng hú lu) — tanghulu; sugar-coated hawthorn or other fruit… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A traditional northern Chinese street snack: hawthorn fruit (or other fruit) skewered on a bamboo stick and coated in hard sugar syrup. The measure word is 串, one skewer = 一串糖葫芦.

noun

tanghulusugar-coated hawthorn or other fruit on a bamboo skewer

Measure word · 串

Examples

糖葫芦。
Dōng tiān chī táng hú lu hěn nuǎn huo.
Eating tanghulu in winter is very warming.
糖葫芦？
Nǐ chī guò táng hú lu ma?
Have you ever eaten tanghulu?
糖葫芦
Yí chuàn táng hú lu
a stick of tanghulu

Origin

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.

米唐糖

Meaning part形符xíngfú

米米mǐrice

Sound part声符shēngfú

唐

Same sound today

糖 is made from 米 (rice) and 唐, which gives the sound táng.

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

艸艸cǎograss

Sound part声符shēngfú

胡

Same sound today

葫 combines 艸 (grass) with 胡, which gives its sound.

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

艹户芦

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎoplant

Sound part声符shēngfú

户

户hù芦lú

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

芦 combines 艹, the plant marker, with 户, which gives the sound.

Appears in

HSK 2.0 Level 6

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