号外 (hào wài) — newspaper extra; special edition (published for…

Definition

noun

newspaper extraspecial edition (published for a breaking news story)

Measure word · 期

号外。
Jīn tiān bào zhǐ chū le yí fèn hào wài.
Today's newspaper published an extra.
号外。
Zhè jiā bào shè jīng cháng wèi zhòng dà xīn wén fā háng hào wài.
This newspaper office often publishes extras for major news.
号外。
Tā shōu jí le xǔ duō jiù hào wài.
He collected many old extras.

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.

号 means an issue, and 外 suggests outside the regular set; together they denote a special extra edition.

Characters in this word

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

口丂号

The shape 号 comes from 口, a mouth, and 丂, exhaled air or a tiger's cry.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

月

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

外 pairs 卜 with 月, a crescent moon; in its older form, the 卜 part had a horizontal bar extending outward, giving the sense of outside.

Appears in