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面糊 (miàn hù) — batter (flour-and-water mixture for frying); cooked flour paste (as a simple food)

Definition

A simple mix of flour and water, used as a coating for frying (batter) or eaten as a plain porridge-like food. The same word covers both uses; context tells you which.

noun
batter (flour-and-water mixture for frying)cooked flour paste (as a simple food)

Examples

  • ，。
    Zuò zhá yú zhī qián, xiān bǎ yú guǒ shàng miàn hù.
    Before frying the fish, first coat it in batter.
  • 面糊，。
    Zhè ge miàn hù diào dé tài xī le, zài jiā diǎn miàn fěn ba.
    This batter is too thin; add a bit more flour.
  • 面糊。
    Xiǎo shí hou nǎi nai cháng zuò miàn hù gěi wǒ men dāng zǎo cān.
    When I was little, Grandma often made flour paste for our breakfast.

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.

面miànflour
糊húpaste

面 means flour and 糊 means paste, giving a flour paste or batter.

Characters in this word

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

面 originally drew a man’s face, with one eye exaggerated; the horizontal stroke was added later.

Open 面 →

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
米米mǐrice
Sound part声符shēngfú
胡
胡hú糊hú
Same sound today

糊 pairs 米 (rice) with 胡 (hú), which gives the sound. The 米 part relates to the meaning.

Open 糊 →
Appears in
Food (General)

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