去火 (qù huǒ) — to reduce internal heat (in traditional Chinese medicine), to cool down the body

Definition

A TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) verb meaning to reduce internal 'heat' — symptoms like mouth sores, acne, or sore throat. Pairs with 上火 ('to get inflamed') and 凉茶 ('cooling tea').

verb
to reduce internal heat (in traditional Chinese medicine)to cool down the body

Examples

  • 去火。
    Xià tiān duō chī xī guā kě yǐ qù huǒ.
    Eating more watermelon in summer can reduce internal heat.
  • ，。
    Tā hē le liáng chá, hěn kuài jiù qù le huǒ.
    He drank a cooling tea and the internal heat soon went away.
  • ，。
    Zuì jìn shàng huǒ le, dé duō hē diǎn shuǐ qù qù huǒ.
    I've been getting inflamed lately; I need to drink more water to cool down.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

去qùremove
火huǒfire/heat

去 (remove) + 火 (fire/heat): to clear excess internal heat.

Characters in this word

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

去 pairs 大, a man, with 口, a mouth or object. The evidence reads this as a man leaving a place, a man opening his mouth, or a cover over an object.

Open 去 →

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

火 is a simple drawing of a fire, with flames shown rising upward.

Open 火 →

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