平衡木 (píng héng mù) — balance beam (gymnastics apparatus and event) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

balance beam (gymnastics apparatus and event)

Measure word · 块

Examples

平衡木。
Tā zài píng héng mù shàng zuò le yí gè wán měi de hòu kōng fān.
She performed a perfect backflip on the balance beam.
平衡木。
píng héng mù Bǐ sài duì yùn dòng yuán de píng héng néng lì yāo qiú hěn gāo.
The balance beam competition demands very high balance ability from athletes.
平衡木。
Jiào liàn ràng tā měi tiān zài píng héng mù shàng liàn xí bàn xiǎo shí.
The coach has her practice on the balance beam for half an hour every day.

Origin

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.

平衡balance

平pínglevel衡héngbalance

联合Coordinate

平衡 means balance and 木 means wood; together they name a wooden balance beam.

Characters in this word

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

八八bādivision
亏亏kuīexhaled air

The origin is uncertain. One explanation combines 八 (division) and 亏 (exhaled air) to show smooth speech.

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

角角jiǎohorn

大大dàbig

Sound part声符shēngfú

行

行xíng衡héng

Same sound today

衡 uses 行 to hint at its sound, and includes 角 (horn) and 大 (big) as meaning parts.

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

木 is drawn as a tree, with branches above and roots below.

Appears in

Sports & Athletics

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