除草 (chú cǎo) — to weed, to remove weeds | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A verb-object phrase meaning to remove weeds from soil or a garden. Distinguish from the noun 草 ('grass'): here 草 is the object — the unwanted plants — not the lawn itself.

verb

to weedto remove weeds

Examples

除草。
Nóng mín men zhèng zài dì lǐ chú cǎo.
The farmers are weeding in the field.
。
Tā chú le cǎo jiù huí jiā le.
He weeded and then went home.
，。
Wǒ men chú le yí shàng wǔ cǎo, lèi huài le.
We weeded all morning and were exhausted.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

除 means remove and 草 means grass, so together they mean remove grass.

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

阜阜fù

Sound part声符shēngfú

余

余yú除chú

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

除 is built from 阜 and 余, with 余 giving the sound.

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

艹早草

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

早

早zǎo草cǎo

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

草 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 早, which gives the sound. The form originally referred to another word and was later used for the grass sense.

Appears in

Agriculture & Farming

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