屏息 (bǐng xī) — to hold one's breath; (Buddhism) to suspend thoughts and reject external influence

Definition

Literary/formal verb. The everyday phrase for 'hold one's breath' is 屏住呼吸; 屏息 alone leans toward writing and has a secondary sense of 'suspend thoughts and reject outside influence' (esp. Buddhist practice).

verb
to hold one's breath(Buddhism) to suspend thoughts and reject external influence

Examples

  • ，屏息。
    Tā qián rù shuǐ zhōng, bǐng xī piàn kè.
    He dived into the water and held his breath for a moment.
  • 屏息，。
    Xiū xíng zhě bǐng xī níng shén, pái chú zá niàn.
    The practitioner holds his breath and concentrates, eliminating distracting thoughts.
  • 屏息。
    Quán chǎng guān zhòng bǐng xī děng dài jié guǒ.
    The entire audience held their breath waiting for the result.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

屏píngsuppress
息xībreath

屏 means to suppress and 息 means breath, so holding back breath.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
尸尸shī
Sound part声符shēngfú
并
并bìng屏bǐng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

屏 pairs 尸 with 并, which supplies the sound.

Open 屏 →

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

In 息, 自 is nose and 心 is heart, showing breath or life passing through one's nose.

Open 息 →

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