胸前 (xiōng qián) — front of the chest; area in front of one's chest | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

front of the chestarea in front of one's chest

Examples

胸前。
Tā xiōng qián dài zhe yì méi huī zhāng.
He is wearing a badge on his chest.
胸前。
Tā yòng shǒu mō le mō xiōng qián.
She touched the front of her chest with her hand.
胸前。
xiōng qián Shī le yí dà piàn.
A large area on the front of the chest got 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.

胸 gives the chest and 前 the front side, together naming the area in front of the chest.

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

肉肉ròumeat

Sound part声符shēngfú

匈

匈xiōng胸xiōng

Same sound today

胸 adds 肉 (meat/flesh) to the original form 匈, which provides the sound.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

止止zhǐfoot
舟舟zhōuboat

In the older form of 前, 止 (foot) and 舟 (boat) showed a foot on a boat moving forward; in the current 前 those parts are shortened.

Appears in

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