吞噬 (tūn shì) — to swallow, to gobble up (literal, e.g., eating or consuming physically); to engulf, to devour (figurative, e.g., darkness, fire, debt)

Definition

verb
to swallowto gobble up (literal, e.g., eating or consuming physically)to engulfto devour (figurative, e.g., darkness, fire, debt)

Examples

  • 吞噬。
    Shī zi hěn kuài jiù tūn shì le liè wù.
    The lion quickly devoured its prey.
  • 吞噬。
    Dà huǒ tūn shì le zhěng gè sēn lín.
    The great fire engulfed the entire forest.
  • 吞噬。
    Gū dú gǎn jī hū yào tūn shì tā de nèi xīn.
    A sense of loneliness almost swallowed his heart.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

吞tūnswallow
噬shìbite

吞 means swallow and 噬 means bite or devour, so the sense combines taking in and consuming.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 吞 →

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
筮
筮shì噬shì
Same sound today

噬 has 口, meaning mouth, and 筮, which provides the sound.

Open 噬 →

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