易爆 (yì bào) — explosive (of substances, materials)

Definition

易爆 (yì bào) means 'easily explosive' — used to label substances or materials that are prone to exploding, not people or actions. Pairs with nouns like 物品, 化学品, 气体.

adjective
explosive (of substances, materials)

Examples

  • 易爆，。
    Zhè xiē huà xué pǐn shì yì bào de, bì xū xiǎo xīn cún fàng.
    These chemicals are explosive and must be stored carefully.
  • 易爆。
    Gōng chǎng lǐ jìn zhǐ xié dài yì bào wù pǐn.
    Explosive items are prohibited in the factory.
  • 易爆，。
    Zhè zhǒng qì tǐ fēi cháng yì bào, yù huǒ jiù huì bào zhà.
    This gas is very explosive; it will explode when exposed to fire.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

易yìeasy or liable
爆bàoexplode

易 means easy or liable and 爆 means explode, so the sense is liable to explode.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The early form of 易 was a drawing of a filled container, not a chameleon. It showed something full that could be given out.

Open 易 →

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
火火huǒ
Sound part声符shēngfú
暴
暴bào爆bào
Same sound today

爆 combines 火 (fire) with 暴, which supplies the sound and also originally meant violence.

Open 爆 →

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