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松手 (sōng shǒu) — to loosen one's grip; to let go

Definition

松手 (sōng shǒu) is a verb-object phrase: literally 'loosen hand', meaning to release something you're holding. It focuses on the physical act of letting go — of a person, object, or grip — not the broader idea of 'releasing' a resource.

verb
to loosen one's gripto let go

Examples

  • 松手，。
    Qǐng nǐ sōng shǒu, bié lā wǒ.
    Please let go, don't pull me.
  • ，。
    Tā sōng le shǒu, dōng xī diào zài dì shàng.
    He let go, and the thing fell on the ground.
  • 松手？
    Nǐ shén me shí hou cái kěn sōng shǒu?
    When will you finally be willing to let go?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

松sōngloosen
手shǒuhand

松 means to loosen, and 手 is the hand; together they describe loosening the hand's grip.

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
木木mùwood
Sound part声符shēngfú
公
公gōng松sōng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

松 uses 木 (wood) to show it is a tree, and 公 to give the sound.

Open 松 →

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Open 手 →
Appears in
Abstract Concepts

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