喷气 (pēn qì) — to blow out gas, to inject air; (of an engine)…

Definition

喷气 (pēnqì) means to blow out or inject gas/air in a forceful, pressurized way — technical usage in engines and jet propulsion, not casual blowing.

verb

to blow out gasto inject air(of an engine) to jet

喷气。
Fā dòng jī kāi shǐ pēn qì le.
The engine started to jet air.
。
Tā duì zhe qì qiú pēn le yì kǒu qì.
He blew a puff of air into the balloon.
。
Zhè zhǒng fēi jī cǎi yòng pēn qì shì tuī jìn.
This type of aircraft uses jet propulsion.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

喷pēnblow out

“喷” means to blow out and “气” means air or gas, so the image is pushing air outward.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 噴; 喷 is its simplified writing.

口賁噴

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

賁

賁bì噴pēn

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

The traditional form 噴 pairs 口, mouth, with 賁 for the sound; the simplified 喷 is a later shorthand.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 氣; 气 is its simplified writing.

气米氣

Meaning part形符xíngfú

米米mǐrice

Sound part声符shēngfú

气

Same sound today

The traditional form 氣 pairs 米 (rice) with 气, which supplies the sound; the simplified 气 is a later abbreviation.