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车把 (chē bǎ) — handlebar (of a bicycle, motorcycle, etc.); shaft (of a cart or wagon)

Definition

车把 (chēbǎ) means the handle or shaft you grip to steer or control a vehicle. On bikes and motorcycles it's the handlebar; on a horse cart it's the long shaft in front.

noun
handlebar (of a bicycle, motorcycle, etc.)shaft (of a cart or wagon)
Measure word · 根

Examples

  • 车把，。
    Tā fú zhe chē bǎ, qí shàng le zì xíng chē.
    He held the handlebars and got on the bicycle.
  • 车把，。
    Zhè liàng mó tuō chē de chē bǎ huài le, xū yào xiū yí xià.
    The handlebars of this motorcycle are broken and need to be fixed.
  • 车把。
    Lǎo shì de mǎ chē qián miàn yǒu yì gēn cháng cháng de chē bǎ.
    In front of an old-style horse cart there is a long shaft.

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.

车chēvehicle
把bǎhandle

The sense of 车 vehicle joins 把 handle to mean a handlebar or shaft.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 車; 车 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 車 was drawn as a carriage seen from above, with wheels on both sides and a shaft at the front; the simplified 车 is a later shorthand.

Open 车 →

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
巴
巴bā把bǎ
Same sound today

把 combines 扌, a hand, with 巴 for its sound.

Open 把 →
Appears in
Vehicles

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