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冷风 (lěng fēng) — cold wind; chilly breeze; rumor; gossip (figurative)

Definition

Literal meaning is 'cold wind/chilly breeze'; figuratively it means rumor or gossip (as in 吹冷风 'to spread rumors'). The figurative sense comes from the idea of a cold wind blowing through — unsettling talk that circulates around you.

noun
cold windchilly breezerumorgossip (figurative)
Measure word · 阵

Examples

  • 冷风，。
    Wài miàn guā zhe lěng fēng, chū mén jì de chuān hòu yì diǎn.
    A cold wind is blowing outside; remember to dress warmly when you go out.
  • 冷风。
    Bàn gōng shì lǐ zuì jìn chuī qǐ le guān yú cái yuán de lěng fēng.
    Rumors about layoffs have been circulating in the office recently.
  • 冷风，。
    Bié tīng nà xiē rén chuán lái de lěng fēng, shì qing bú shì nà yàng de.
    Don't listen to the gossip those people are spreading; things aren't like that.

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.

冷lěngcold
风fēngwind

冷 sets the chilly quality and 风 names the moving air, forming a cold breeze.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
冫Written in full as仌bīngice
Sound part声符shēngfú
令
令lìng冷lěng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

冷 uses 冫, the ice form, with 令 as a sound part, to mean cold as ice.

Open 冷 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 风 →
Appears in
Weather

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