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水枪 (suǐ qiāng) — water pistol (toy); hydraulic monitor; high-pressure water cannon

Definition

水枪 literally means "water gun" and covers both senses: a children's water pistol (水仗, playing in summer) and a high-pressure water cannon used by firefighters or on construction sites. The toy sense is far more common in everyday speech.

noun
water pistol (toy)hydraulic monitorhigh-pressure water cannon
Measure word · 把

Examples

  • 。
    Hái zi men zài huā yuán lǐ yòng suǐ qiāng dǎ shuǐ zhàng.
    The children had a water fight in the garden with water pistols.
  • 。
    Xiāo fáng yuán yòng suǐ qiāng duì zhe dà lóu pēn shuǐ.
    The firefighters aimed the hydraulic monitor at the building and sprayed water.
  • ，。
    Gōng dì shàng, gōng rén yòng suǐ qiāng chōng xǐ lù miàn.
    At the construction site, workers used a high-pressure water cannon to wash the road.

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.

水shuǐwater
枪qiānggun

水 names water, and 枪 names a gun, so the word means a water gun.

Characters in this word

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

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Open 水 →

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 槍; 枪 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mù
Sound part声符shēngfú
倉
倉cāng槍qiāng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 槍 pairs 木 (wood) with 倉 as a sound part; the simplified 枪 is a shorthand, and its right side is not the historical component.

Open 枪 →
Appears in
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