呵护 (hē hù) — to cherish, to take good care of; to nurture, t… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

呵护 is 'to cherish and protect tenderly' — more emotionally warm than 爱护, and more devoted/long-term than 护. Often pairs with loved ones, friendships, or something fragile like the environment.

verb

to cherishto take good care ofto nurtureto protect

Examples

呵护。
Fù mǔ zǒng shì xì xīn hē hù zì jǐ de hái zi.
Parents always carefully take care of their own children.
呵护。
Tā yì zhí hē hù zhe zhè duàn lái zhī bú yì de yǒu yì.
She has always cherished this hard-won friendship.
呵护。
Wǒ men yào gòng tóng hē hù dì qiú jiā yuán.
We must jointly protect our home planet Earth.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

呵hēprotect

护hùprotect

呵 and 护 convey protecting and caring, yielding the sense of cherishing and guarding.

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.

口可呵

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

可

可kě呵hē

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 口 (mouth) points to a mouth action, while 可 gives the sound.

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

扌户护

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

户

户hù护hù

Same sound today

护 combines 扌 (the hand form 手) with 户, which gives the sound hù.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Emotions & Feelings

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