退潮 (tuì cháo) — ebb tide; (figurative) decline, waning

Definition

Literally 'retreating tide' — the seawater going out (ebb tide), and by extension any trend, craze, or enthusiasm that fades.

noun
ebb tide(figurative) declinewaning

Examples

  • ，退潮。
    Xià wǔ sān diǎn zuǒ yòu, hǎi shuǐ kāi shǐ tuì cháo.
    Around three in the afternoon, the seawater began to ebb.
  • 退潮，。
    Zhè zhǒng kuǎn shì yǐ jīng tuì cháo le, xiàn zài liú xíng de shì lìng yì zhǒng.
    This style has already declined; another style is popular now.
  • 退潮，。
    Céng jīng de rè cháo rú jīn yǐ tuì cháo, dà jiā bú zài guān zhù nà jiàn shì.
    The former craze has now waned, and people no longer pay attention to that matter.

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.

退tuìrecede
潮cháotide

退 means recede and 潮 means tide; together they describe a receding tide.

Characters in this word

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

  • 皀皀jífood vessel
  • 夊夊suīdownward foot

退 originally showed 皀, a food vessel, with 夊, a downward foot, for leaving the table after eating. In modern 退, the vessel part 皀 changed into an unrelated shape.

Open 退 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
朝
朝cháo潮cháo
Same sound today

潮 has 氵, the water form 水, on the left to show a water connection, with 朝 on the right giving the sound.

Open 潮 →

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