引流 (yǐn liú) — (medicine) drainage; the process of drawing off fluid from a wound or cavity; (internet marketing) traffic generation; the act of directing visitors to a platform or product

Definition

Two distinct senses: in medicine, drawing fluid from a wound or cavity; in internet marketing, directing visitors to a platform or product. The modern usage is almost always the marketing sense.

noun
(medicine) drainagethe process of drawing off fluid from a wound or cavity(internet marketing) traffic generationthe act of directing visitors to a platform or product

Examples

  • 引流，。
    Shǒu shù hòu yī shēng zuò le yǐn liú, fáng zhǐ gǎn rǎn.
    After the surgery, the doctor performed drainage to prevent infection.
  • 引流，。
    Zhè ge gōng zhòng hào de yǐn liú fāng fǎ hěn yǒu xiào, fěn sī zēng zhǎng hěn kuài.
    This public account's traffic-generation method is very effective; the number of followers is growing fast.
  • 引流。
    Wǎng luò yíng xiāo zhōng zuì zhòng yào de shì zuò hǎo yǐn liú.
    In online marketing, the most important thing is to do good traffic generation.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

引yǐndraw
流liúflow

“引” means draw or guide and “流” means flow or traffic, giving drainage or attracting visitors.

Characters in this word

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

  • 弓弓gōngbow
  • 丿丿piěindicatory stroke

引 is made from 弓, a bow, and 丿, a short slant stroke added at the place where the string is pulled, marking the action of drawing or pulling.

Open 引 →

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
㐬
㐬㐬流liú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

流 has 水, water, and 㐬, which gives the sound. The water part matches meanings such as flow.

Open 流 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.