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高潮 (gāo cháo) — (of a story, competition, etc.) climax, peak; high tide, high water; orgasm (sexual climax)

Definition

高潮 covers both the climactic peak of a story or event and high tide. For a figurative peak (career, activity), 高峰 is more neutral while 高潮 emphasizes emotional or narrative intensity.

noun
(of a story, competition, etc.) climaxpeakhigh tidehigh waterorgasm (sexual climax)

Examples

  • 高潮，。
    Zhè bù diàn yǐng de gāo cháo bù fen fēi cháng gǎn rén, hěn duō guān zhòng dōu kū le.
    The climax of this movie is very moving; many audience members cried.
  • 高潮，。
    Jīn tiān xià wǔ sān diǎn shì gāo cháo shí jiān, hǎi biān huì zhǎng cháo.
    The high tide is at 3 PM today; the sea will rise at the beach.
  • 高潮。
    Xìng ài zhōng de gāo cháo shì liǎng rén guān xì de zhòng yào bù fen.
    The orgasm in sex is an important part of the relationship between two people.

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.

高gāohigh
潮cháotide

高 means high and 潮 means tide, so together they picture a tide at its highest point, extended to a peak or climax.

Characters in this word

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

高 was drawn as a tall building.

Open 高 →

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 →
Appears in
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