出毛病 (chū máo bìng) — to go wrong; to break down; to malfunction | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Separable verb meaning 'something goes wrong / breaks down' — used for machines, bodies, or plans. The 毛病 part can be fronted with 出, like 出了毛病 or 最近出毛病了.

verb

to go wrongto break downto malfunction

Examples

出毛病，。
Wǒ de diàn nǎo chū máo bìng le, kāi bù liǎo jī.
My computer broke down and won't turn on.
。
Tā de shēn tǐ zuì jìn chū guò jǐ cì máo bìng.
His body has had a few problems recently.
出毛病，。
Jì huà yòu chū máo bìng le, zhǐ néng tuī chí.
The plan went wrong again, so we have to postpone it.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

出chūdevelop

毛病problem

毛máosmall病bìngproblem

偏正Modifier + head

出 means develop, 毛病 means a problem, together mean go wrong.

Characters in this word

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

止止zhǐfoot
凵凵kǎncave

出 combines 止 (foot) and 凵 (cave) to show a foot stepping out of a cave.

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

毛 is drawn as a feather or hair, with its strokes tracing the shape of the feather or hair.

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

疒丙病

Meaning part形符xíngfú

疒疒nèsickness

Sound part声符shēngfú

丙

丙bǐng病bìng

Same sound today

病 pairs 疒, a sickness mark, with 丙, which gives the sound; 丙 also means fire, giving a picture of lying feverishly in bed.

Appears in

Illness & Symptoms

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