锁孔 (suǒ kǒng) — keyhole; lockhole | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

keyholelockhole

锁孔。
Tā bǎ yào shi chā jìn suǒ kǒng lǐ.
He inserted the key into the keyhole.
锁孔。
Zhè ge mén de suǒ kǒng tài xiǎo le.
The keyhole on this door is too small.
锁孔。
Cóng suǒ kǒng lǐ néng kàn dào fáng jiān lǐ miàn.
You can see inside the room through the keyhole.

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.

锁 contributes the lock, 孔 contributes the hole, so the word names the opening for a key.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鎖; 锁 is its simplified writing.

金𧴪鎖

Meaning part形符xíngfú

金金jīnmetal

Sound part声符shēngfú

𧴪

𧴪𧴪鎖suǒ

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 鎖 pairs 金 (metal) with a sound component, 𧴪; the simplified 锁 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the original parts.

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

孔 pairs 丿 (an opening) with 子 (a child), showing an opening in a newborn's skull.