捶背 (chuí bēi) — to give a back massage by lightly pounding with… | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

捶背 (chuí bèi) is a verb-object phrase meaning to pound someone's back with the fists to relieve soreness — a common gesture in family care and massage settings. The verb 捶 can split with quantifiers and objects, e.g. 捶了十分钟的背.

verb

to give a back massage by lightly pounding with fists

Examples

捶背。
Wǒ měi tiān wǎn shàng gěi bà ba chuí bēi.
I pound my dad's back every evening.
，。
Tā bāng wǒ chuí le shí fēn zhōng de bèi, gǎn jué shū fu duō le.
She helped me by pounding my back for ten minutes, and it felt much better.
捶背？
Qǐng wèn nín yào chuí bēi ma?
Would you like a back-pounding massage?

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

捶 means pound, 背 means back, so 捶背 is pounding someone's back to ease soreness.

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shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

垂

Same sound today

捶 puts 手 (hand) beside 垂, which supplies the sound chuí.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

北月背

Meaning part形符xíngfú

月Written in full as肉ròumeat

Sound part声符shēngfú

北

北běi背bèi

Same sound today

背 was first written as 北; 北 gives the sound, and 肉 (meat, written as 月 here) was added to separate it from 北’s north meaning.

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