滴水 (dī shuǐ) — a drop of water; (verb-object) to drip water; to leak water drop by drop

Definition

A verb-object phrase: as a noun, 'a drop of water'; as a verb, 'to drip / leak drop by drop'. Often appears in set phrases like 滴水穿石 (dripping water wears through stone — persistence prevails).

a drop of water(verb-object) to drip waterto leak water drop by drop
Measure word · 滴

Examples

  • 滴水。
    Zhuō zi shàng yǒu yì dī shuǐ.
    There is a drop of water on the table.
  • 滴水。
    Shuǐ lóng tóu yì zhí zài dī shuǐ.
    The faucet has been dripping.
  • 滴水。
    Tā zhī dī le jǐ dī shuǐ.
    He only dripped a few drops of water.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

滴dīdrip
水shuǐwater

"滴" means to let fall in drops and "水" is water, giving the image of water dripping.

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shuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
啻
啻chì滴dī
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

滴 has 水, meaning water, on the left, and 啻 on the right, which tells how it sounds.

Open 滴 →

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 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.