回火 (huí huǒ) — temper (metallurgy, heat treatment); backfire (engine/vehicle misfire)

Definition

In metallurgy, 回火 (huí huǒ) means to temper steel — reheating hardened metal to reduce brittleness. The same word also means an engine backfiring, an unrelated everyday sense.

verb
temper (metallurgy, heat treatment)backfire (engine/vehicle misfire)

Examples

  • 回火。
    Zhè zhǒng gāng xū yào jīng guò huí huǒ chǔ lǐ cái néng biàn yìng.
    This type of steel needs to undergo tempering to become hard.
  • 回火，。
    Qì chē fā dòng jī tū rán huí huǒ le, xià le wǒ yí tiào.
    The car engine suddenly backfired and startled me.
  • ，。
    Shī fu huí le yí cì huǒ, gōng jiàn jiù hé gé le.
    The master tempered it once, and the workpiece was qualified.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

回huíreturn
火huǒfire

The metal is 回 (returned) to the 火 (fire), or flame comes back.

Characters in this word

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

回 comes from a drawing of a spiral, showing something turning around.

Open 回 →

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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