火冒三丈 (huǒ mào sān zhàng) — to fly into a rage, to be furious (idiom)

Definition

A vivid idiom meaning 'to fly into a towering rage' — the fire shoots up three zhang (≈ ten meters), stronger than simply saying 生气.

idiom

to fly into a rageto be furious (idiom)

，火冒三丈。
Tā tīng dào zhè ge xiāo xi, qì dé huǒ mào sān zhàng.
He was so angry he flew into a rage upon hearing the news.
，火冒三丈。
Lǎo bǎn yí kàn bào biǎo shàng de shù zì, lì kè huǒ mào sān zhàng.
The boss immediately flew into a rage when he saw the numbers on the report.
，火冒三丈。
Bié rě tā, tā hěn róng yì huǒ mào sān zhàng.
Don't provoke him; he easily flies into a rage.

Characters in this word

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

火 is a simple drawing of a fire, with flames shown rising upward.

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

冃目冒

Meaning part形符xíngfú

目目mùeyes

Sound part声符shēngfú

冃

冃mào冒mào

Same sound today

冒 was built from 冃, a hat used for the sound, plus 目, eyes, as the meaning part.

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

三 is drawn as three parallel strokes, like 一 with one stroke and 二 with two.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

丈 is made from 十 (ten) and 又 (hand), and it is explained as a length of ten chi.

Appears in