堆肥 (duī féi) — compost | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

compost

堆肥。
Zhè xiē cài yè kě yǐ zuò duī féi.
These vegetable leaves can be made into compost.
堆肥。
Wǒ mǎi le yí dài duī féi gěi huā yuán yòng.
I bought a bag of compost for the garden.
堆肥。
duī féi Néng bāng zhù zhí wù cháng dé gèng hǎo.
Compost can help plants grow better.

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.

肥féifertilizer

堆 and 肥 combine to mean fertilizer gathered into a heap.

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.

土隹堆

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔearth

Sound part声符shēngfú

隹

隹zhuī堆duī

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

堆 is built from 土 (earth) and 隹, which supplies the sound.

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

肥 is built from 肉, meat, and 卪, a kneeling person.