蹬腿 (dēng tuǐ) — to kick one's legs (as in swimming, cycling, or a baby's movement); (slang, humorous) to kick the bucket, to die

Definition

Literal sense: kick one's legs (swimming, cycling, a baby's playful kicks). Slang sense: a humorous, softened way to say someone died — like 'kicked the bucket.'

verb
to kick one's legs (as in swimming, cycling, or a baby's movement)(slang, humorous) to kick the bucketto die

Examples

  • 。
    Yīng ér tǎng zài chuáng shàng gāo xìng dì dēng zhe tuǐ.
    The baby lay on the bed happily kicking its legs.
  • 蹬腿，。
    Tā yóu yǒng shí yòng lì dēng tuǐ, yóu dé hěn kuài.
    He kicked his legs hard while swimming and swam very fast.
  • 。
    Nà zhī lǎo gǒu zuì hòu dēng le yí xià tuǐ jiù méi le.
    That old dog kicked once and then was gone.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

蹬dēngkick
腿tuǐleg

蹬 (kick) and 腿 (leg) combine to mean kicking one's legs.

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
足足zúfoot
Sound part声符shēngfú
登
登dēng蹬dēng
Same sound today

蹬 has 足, which shows the action is done with the foot, and 登, which gives the sound.

Open 蹬 →

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ròuflesh
Sound part声符shēngfú
退
退tuì腿tuǐ
Same sound today

The 肉 part is flesh, showing a body part; the 退 part gives the sound.

Open 腿 →

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