扣球 (kòu qiú) — to smash, to spike (a ball downward in volleyball, badminton, etc.)

Definition

扣球 (kòuqiú) is a verb-object compound meaning to spike or smash a ball straight downward, used as both the action and the stroke itself in volleyball and badminton. As a 离合词 (separable verb), the object 球 can move — e.g. 扣了一个球.

verb
to smashto spike (a ball downward in volleyball, badminton, etc.)

Examples

  • 扣球。
    Tā tiào qǐ lái yòng lì kòu qiú.
    He jumped up and smashed the ball hard.
  • 。
    Tā zài zhè chǎng bǐ sài zhōng kòu le shí duō gè qiú.
    She spiked more than ten balls in this match.
  • 扣球，。
    Duì fāng de kòu qiú fēi cháng lì hài, wǒ men hěn nán jiē zhù.
    The opponent's smash is very powerful — we can hardly receive it.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

扣kòustrike downward
球qiúball

扣 means strike downward, and 球 means ball; together they describe spiking a ball in a game.

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
手手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
口
口kǒu扣kòu
Same sound today

扣 puts 手 (hand) beside 口 (mouth); 口 gives the sound, while 手 shows it is about a hand action.

Open 扣 →

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
玉玉yùjade
Sound part声符shēngfú
求
求qiú球qiú
Same sound today

球 is built from 玉, meaning jade, and 求, which gives the sound.

Open 球 →

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