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雷区 (léi ōu) — minefield (literal area of mines; also figurative dangerous situation)

Definition

Literally a field of mines, but in modern Chinese it is almost always used figuratively to mean a sensitive topic or dangerous situation to avoid. Pair with the measure word 片.

noun
minefield (literal area of mines; also figurative dangerous situation)
Measure word · 片

Examples

  • 雷区。
    Shì bīng men xiǎo xīn dì chuān yuè le léi ōu.
    The soldiers carefully crossed the minefield.
  • 雷区，。
    Zhè ge wèn tí shì gè léi ōu, nǐ zuì hǎo bié pèng.
    This issue is a minefield; you'd better not touch it.
  • 雷区，。
    Tā jìn rù le fǎ lǜ shàng de léi ōu, shāo bú zhù yì jiù huì chū wèn tí.
    He entered a legal minefield; one misstep could cause problems.

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.

雷léimine
区qūarea

雷 as mine and 区 as area combine to name a zone full of mines.

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
雨雨yǔrain
Sound part声符shēngfú
畾
畾léi雷léi
Same sound today

The top 雨 (rain) points to the meaning, and the bottom 畾 gives the sound.

Open 雷 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 區; 区 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 區 is made from 匸 and 品; the simplified 区 is a shorthand.

Open 区 →
Appears in
Military & DefenseSafety & Danger

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