鼓掌 (gǔ zhǎng) — to applaud, to clap | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

鼓掌 specifically means applauding by clapping one's hands. Unlike 拍 (a general 'pat/slap') or 欢呼/喝彩/叫好 (cheering by shouting), 鼓掌 is the physical hand-clap form of applause.

verb

to applaudto clap

Examples

鼓掌。
Dà jiā gǔ zhǎng biǎo shì huān yíng.
Everyone applauded to show welcome.
，鼓掌。
Yǎn jiǎng jié shù shí, guān zhòng rè liè gǔ zhǎng.
When the speech ended, the audience warmly applauded.
，。
Tā biǎo yǎn dé hěn hǎo, dà jiā wèi tā gǔ le sān cì zhǎng.
He performed very well, and everyone gave him three rounds of applause.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

鼓gǔstrike

鼓 means to strike and 掌 means the palm, so 鼓掌 is to clap one's palms.

Characters in this word

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

壴支鼓

壴壴zhùdrum
支支zhīhand holding drumstick

鼓 combines 壴, a drum, with 支, a hand holding a drumstick, so the character pictures a drum being struck.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

尚

尚shàng掌zhǎng

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

It combines 手, meaning hand, with 尚, which gives it a sound close to shàng.

Appears in

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