鼻息 (bí xī) — breath (from the nose) | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literary word for 'breath from the nose', most often used in the idiom 仰人鼻息 — to live at someone else's mercy, depending on their every breath.

noun

breath (from the nose)

，鼻息。
Tā shuì dé hěn chén, bí xī jūn yún ér huǎn màn.
He slept deeply, his breath even and slow.
鼻息。
Tā jǐn zhāng dé lián bí xī dōu bǐng zhù le.
She was so nervous that she even held her breath.
，鼻息，。
Zài nà ge gōng sī gōng zuò, tā zhǐ néng yǎng rén bí xī, háo wú zì zhǔ quán.
Working at that company, he could only depend on others and had no autonomy at all.

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.

The breath 鼻息 comes out through the nose, so the name points to its source.

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.

自畀鼻

Meaning part形符xíngfú

自自zìnose

Sound part声符shēngfú

畀

畀bì鼻bí

Same sound today

鼻 pairs 自, meaning nose, with 畀, which gives the sound.

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

自心息

In 息, 自 is nose and 心 is heart, showing breath or life passing through one's nose.