警灯 (jǐng dēng) — police car light; emergency warning light | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

police car lightemergency warning light

Measure word · 盏

Examples

警灯。
Yuǎn chù shǎn shuò de jǐng dēng ràng tā yì shí dào yǒu jǐng chá zhèng zài gǎn lái.
The flashing police light in the distance made him realize cops were coming.
警灯。
Nà liàng chē dǐng shàng de jǐng dēng shì hóng lán xiāng jiàn de.
The light on top of that car is red and blue.
警灯。
Sī jī tīng dào míng dí shēng bìng kàn dào jǐng dēng hòu lì kè kào biān tíng chē.
The driver pulled over immediately after hearing the siren and seeing the police light.

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.

警 (police) + 灯 (light): a police warning light.

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.

敬言警

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yánspoken language, speech

Sound part声符shēngfú

敬

Same sound today

警 places 言 (speech) below 敬; 敬 gives the sound.

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

火丁灯

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

丁

丁dīng灯dēng

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

灯 pairs 火, which shows fire, with 丁, which gives the sound.

Appears in

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