木块 (mù kuài) — block of wood; piece of wood

Definition

noun
block of woodpiece of wood
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 木块。
    Dì shàng yǒu yí kuài mù kuài.
    There is a piece of wood on the ground.
  • 木块。
    Tā yòng mù kuài zuò le yì zhāng xiǎo zhuō zi.
    He used a block of wood to make a small table.
  • 木块。
    Zhè xiē mù kuài kě yǐ yòng lái diāo kè.
    These blocks of wood can be used for carving.

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.

木mùwood
块kuàiblock

木 gives the material and 块 gives the block, making a piece of wood.

Characters in this word

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

木 is drawn as a tree, with branches above and roots below.

Open 木 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 塊; 块 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth; dust
Sound part声符shēngfú
鬼
鬼guǐ塊kuài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 塊 pairs 土 (earth; dust) with 鬼 as a sound part to show a clod of dirt. The simplified 块 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical pieces.

Open 块 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.