割草机 (gē cǎo jī) — lawn mower

Definition

noun
lawn mower
Measure word · 台

Examples

  • 割草机。
    Bà ba yòng gē cǎo jī bǎ cǎo píng xiū jiǎn dé hěn zhěng qí.
    Dad trimmed the lawn neatly with the lawn mower.
  • 割草机，。
    Zhè tái gē cǎo jī de fā dòng jī huài le, xū yào wéi xiū.
    The engine of this lawn mower is broken and needs repair.
  • 割草机。
    Lín jū mǎi le yì tái xīn de diàn dòng gē cǎo jī.
    Our neighbor bought a new electric lawn mower.

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.

割草cut grass
割gēcut草cǎograss
动宾Verb + object
机jīmachine

割草机 names a machine for cutting grass, from 割 'cut', 草 'grass', and 机 'machine'.

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
刂Written in full as刀dāo
Sound part声符shēngfú
害
害hài割gē
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

割 combines 害, which provides the sound, with 刂, the knife form of 刀, to show cutting.

Open 割 →

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
早
早zǎo草cǎo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

草 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 早, which gives the sound. The form originally referred to another word and was later used for the grass sense.

Open 草 →

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
木木mùtree; wood
Sound part声符shēngfú
几
几jǐ机jī
Same sound today

The left part is 木 (tree; wood), and the right part 几 gives the sound.

Open 机 →
Appears in
Miscellaneous Objects

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