(chòng) — toward, facing (colloquial); aimed at (a person or thing); (of a smell or taste) strong, pungent

Definition

冲 (chòng) here is a preposition/prep-like verb meaning 'toward, aimed at' in colloquial use (e.g. 她冲我笑 = she smiled at me), distinct from the HSK5 verb 冲 (chōng) 'to rinse / to charge'.

towardfacing (colloquial)aimed at (a person or thing)(of a smell or taste) strongpungent

Examples

  • Hǎi làng chòng zài shí tou shàng.
    The waves dash against the rocks.
  • Qǐng yòng kāi shuǐ chòng chá.
    Please use boiling water to brew tea.
  • Hóng shuǐ chòng huài le fáng zi.
    The flood water damaged the house.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 衝; 冲 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 冲 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (冲, 冲动) it is 衝; in others (冲) it is 沖.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
Sound part声符shēngfú
zhòngchōng
Same sound today

The traditional form 衝 shows 重 inside 行, with 行 as the meaning part and 重 as the sound part; the simplified 冲 is a later shorthand.

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