擦亮 (cā liàng) — to polish (by rubbing); to make shiny | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A resultative verb meaning to polish until something shines — physical cleaning (例: 擦亮皮鞋) or figurative ('sharpen / open wide', as in 擦亮眼睛 to keep one's eyes open).

verb

to polish (by rubbing)to make shiny

Examples

擦亮。
Tā bǎ pí xié zǐ xì dì cā liàng le.
He carefully polished his leather shoes.
擦亮。
Gōng rén yòng bù bǎ tóng xiàng cā liàng le.
The worker polished the bronze statue with a cloth.
擦亮，。
Nǐ gāi cā liàng yǎn jing, bié bèi jiǎ xiàng piàn le.
You should keep your eyes open and not be fooled by appearances.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

亮liàngbright

擦 means rub and 亮 means bright, so it means to rub until something becomes bright.

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.

扌察擦

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

察

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 扌 is the hand, showing that 擦 is an action done with the hand, such as wiping or scrubbing; the right part 察 gives the sound.

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

人人rénperson

Sound part声符shēngfú

京

京jīng亮liàng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

亮 combines 人 (person) with 京, and the 京 part shows a tower body.

Appears in

Cleaning & Chores

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