愣住 (lèng zhù) — to be stunned, to freeze (in shock or surprise), to stare blankly

Definition

愣住 (lèng zhù) is a resultative verb meaning to freeze up or be stunned momentarily by surprise — 住 marks the resulting frozen state, so it pairs naturally with duration phrases like 了几秒钟/了半天.

verb
to be stunnedto freeze (in shock or surprise)to stare blankly

Examples

  • ，愣住。
    Tīng dào zhè ge xiāo xi, tā yí xià lèng zhù le.
    Upon hearing this news, he was stunned for a moment.
  • 愣住，。
    Tā zhàn zài mén qián lèng zhù le bàn tiān, shuō bù chū huà lái.
    She stood at the door frozen for a long while, unable to speak.
  • ，愣住。
    Miàn duì lǎo shī de tū rán tí wèn, tā lèng zhù le jǐ miǎo zhōng cái huí dá shàng lái.
    Faced with the teacher's sudden question, he froze for a few seconds before answering.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

愣lèngdazed
住zhùstop

“愣” (dazed) and “住” (stop) combine to mean freeze in a dazed state.

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
忄Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
楞
楞léng愣
Same sound today

愣 is built from 忄, a heart radical, plus 楞, which supplies its sound.

Open 愣 →

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
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
主
主zhǔ住zhù
Same sound today

住 pairs 亻, the person radical (written fully as 人), with 主, which supplies the sound.

Open 住 →

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