杠 (gāng) — (bound form) bar, stick, rod (as in 杠杆 lever, 双杠 parallel bars, 单杠 horizontal bar); (bound form) to cross out, to delete (as in 杠掉 'to cross out'); (bound form) to dispute, to argue pointlessly (as in 抬杠, 杠精)
Definition
A bound morpheme with three distinct senses: a physical bar (杠杆, 双杠), the act of crossing something out, and pointless arguing (抬杠, 杠精). Rarely stands alone — always appears inside a compound.
bound form
barstickrod (as in 杠杆 lever, 双杠 parallel bars, 单杠 horizontal bar)to cross outto delete (as in 杠掉 'to cross out')to disputeto argue pointlessly (as in 抬杠, 杠精)
Easily confused
- 扛kánglook-aliketo lift (a heavy object) with both hands, often over one's shoulder
- 刚gāngsound-alikejust (a short while ago; indicating an action happened moments before)
- 枉wǎnglook-alikein vain, futile (in compounds like 枉费, 枉然)
- 钢gāngsound-aliketo sharpen (a blade) on a steel; to strop; to hone
- 红hónglook-alikered (color)
- 冈gāngsound-alikemountain ridge (bound form, used in compounds)
Examples
- 。Tā yòng gāng gǎn bān dòng le dà shí tou.He used a lever to move the big rock.
- 杠。Yùn dòng yuán men zài shuāng gāng shàng zuò dòng zuò.The athletes performed moves on the parallel bars.
- ，。Tā men yòu zài tái gāng le, shuí yě bú ràng shuí.They're arguing again, neither giving in.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
杠 has 木 (tree) on the left and 工 on the right. The 木 part is about wood, and 工 gives the sound.
Appears in
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