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滑铁卢 (Huá tiě lú) — (proper noun) Waterloo (the town in Belgium / the famous battle); (figurative) a decisive defeat, a Waterloo

Definition

A proper noun referring to the Belgian town and Napoleon's 1815 defeat. In modern Chinese it is used figuratively to mean a final, crushing defeat — 'one's Waterloo'.

noun
(proper noun) Waterloo (the town in Belgium / the famous battle)(figurative) a decisive defeata Waterloo

Examples

  • 滑铁卢。
    Zhè chǎng zhàn zhēng bèi chēng wéi Huá tiě lú zhàn yì.
    This battle is called the Battle of Waterloo.
  • 滑铁卢。
    Tā zài bǐ sài zhōng zāo yù le Huá tiě lú.
    He met his Waterloo in the competition.
  • ，滑铁卢。
    Duì zhè jiā gōng sī lái shuō, zhè cì shī bài jiù shì tā de Huá tiě lú.
    For this company, this failure was its Waterloo.

Origin

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
骨
骨gǔ滑huá
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

滑 pairs 水 (water) with 骨, which gives the sound.

Open 滑 →

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 鐵; 铁 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
金金jīnmetal
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢧤
𢧤𢧤鐵tiě
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 鐵 pairs 金 (metal) with 𢧤 as a sound part; the simplified 铁 is a later shorthand.

Open 铁 →

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 盧; 卢 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
田田tiánpictogram of an oven
皿皿mǐnvessel
Sound part声符shēngfú
虍
虍hū盧lú
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 盧 began as a picture of an oven, later written 田, with 皿 (a vessel) and 虍 (for sound) added; simplified 卢 is a shorthand.

Open 卢 →
Appears in
History

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