撞钟 (zhuàng zhōng) — to strike a bell, to toll a bell; (figurative) to go through the motions, to do one's job without passion (from the idiom 做一天和尚撞一天钟)

Definition

撞钟 literally means to strike a bell (as monks do in temples). It also appears in the idiom 做一天和尚撞一天钟, meaning to go through the motions at work without real effort.

verb
to strike a bellto toll a bell(figurative) to go through the motionsto do one's job without passion (from the idiom 做一天和尚撞一天钟)

Examples

  • ，撞钟。
    Měi tiān qīng chén, sì lǐ de hé shàng dōu huì àn shí zhuàng zhōng.
    Every morning, the monks in the temple toll the bell on time.
  • ，。
    Tā jué de zì jǐ kuài tuì xiū le, gōng zuò zhǐ shì zuò yì tiān hé shàng zhuàng yì tiān zhōng.
    He felt he was about to retire and was just going through the motions at work.
  • ，。
    Zhè zuò gǔ zhōng hěn dà, xū yào hǎo jǐ gè rén yì qǐ cái néng zhuàng xiǎng yí cì zhōng.
    This ancient bell is very large; it takes several people together to strike it once.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

撞zhuàngstrike
钟zhōngbell

撞 means strike, and 钟 is the bell struck, yielding the tolling action.

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
扌Written in full as手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
童
童tóng撞zhuàng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 扌 is the hand radical, written in full as 手, and the right side 童 supplies the sound.

Open 撞 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 钟 →

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