气喘 (qì chuǎn) — to be short of breath, to pant

Definition

气喘 (qìchuǎn) means 'to pant / be short of breath' — usually a temporary state from exertion or illness, not the chronic disease 哮喘 (asthma).

verb

to be short of breathto pant

气喘。
Tā pǎo le shí gōng lǐ hòu yì zhí qì chuǎn.
He kept panting after running ten kilometers.
气喘。
Lǎo rén shàng lóu tī shí róng yì qì chuǎn.
The old man easily gets short of breath when climbing stairs.
气喘。
Gǎn mào yǐn qǐ de qì chuǎn ràng wǒ hěn nán shòu.
The panting caused by a cold made me very uncomfortable.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

Breath that pants means being short of breath.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 氣; 气 is its simplified writing.

气米氣

Meaning part形符xíngfú

米米mǐrice

Sound part声符shēngfú

气

Same sound today

The traditional form 氣 pairs 米 (rice) with 气, which supplies the sound; the simplified 气 is a later abbreviation.

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

口耑喘

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

耑

耑zhuān喘chuǎn

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

喘 is made from 口 (mouth) and 耑, which supplies the sound.