出气筒 (chū qì tǒng) — punching bag (figurative), someone who bears th… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literally a 'vent for anger' — the person who unfairly absorbs someone else's frustration. Pattern: 把/当…出气筒 or 被某人当出气筒, meaning they take out their anger on this person.

noun

punching bag (figurative), someone who bears the brunt of another's anger

Measure word · 个

Examples

出气筒，。
Tā chéng le lǎo bǎn de chū qì tǒng, měi tiān dōu bèi mà.
He became the boss's punching bag, getting scolded every day.
，出气筒。
Mā ma xīn qíng bù hǎo de shí hou, bà ba jiù shì tā de chū qì tǒng.
When mom is in a bad mood, dad is her punching bag.
出气筒。
Nǐ bù néng zǒng shì ná wǒ dāng chū qì tǒng.
You can't always use me as a punching bag.

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.

出气vent anger

出chūemit气qìanger

动宾Verb + object

出气 vents anger, and a 筒 is a tube, so it is a target for anger.

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.

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 氣; 气 is its simplified writing.

气米氣

Meaning part形符xíngfú

米米mǐrice

Sound part声符shēngfú

气

气qì氣qì

Same sound today

The traditional form 氣 pairs 米 (rice) with 气, which supplies the sound; the simplified 气 is a later abbreviation.

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

𥫗同筒

Meaning part形符xíngfú

𥫗Written in full as竹zhúbamboo

Sound part声符shēngfú

同

同tóng筒tǒng

Same sound today

The bamboo part 竹 marks 筒 as a bamboo tube, and 同 gives its sound.

Appears in

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