水槽 (shuǐ cáo) — sink (kitchen or utility); water trough (for animals or industrial use)

Definition

noun
sink (kitchen or utility)water trough (for animals or industrial use)
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 水槽
    Tā bǎ zāng wǎn dōu fàng zài shuǐ cáo lǐ pào zhe.
    He put all the dirty bowls in the sink to soak.
  • 水槽
    Chú fáng de shuǐ cáo shì yòng bú xiù gāng zuò de.
    The kitchen sink is made of stainless steel.
  • 水槽
    Nóng chǎng de shuǐ cáo lǐ zhuāng mǎn le wèi niú de shuǐ.
    The water trough on the farm is filled with water for the cows.

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.

cáotrough

水 means water and 槽 means trough, so 水槽 is a trough for water.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
wood
Sound part声符shēngfú
cáocáo
Same sound today

槽 uses 木 (wood) for the meaning and 曹 for the sound, showing a wooden trough or vat.

Open 槽 →

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