炮击 (pào jī) — to bombard; to shell | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

To bombard or shell with artillery. The action is sustained fire from cannons or heavy guns against a target position or area.

verb

to bombardto shell

Examples

炮击。
Dí rén pào jī le wǒ men de zhèn dì.
The enemy bombarded our position.
炮击。
Jūn jiàn chí xù pào jī yán àn mù biāo.
The warship continuously shelled coastal targets.
炮击。
Tā men yòng zhòng pào pào jī chéng shì.
They bombarded the city with heavy artillery.

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.

击jīstrike

炮 gives the cannon and 击 the striking action, meaning to shell or bombard.

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.

火包炮

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

包

包bāo炮pào

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

炮 combines 火 and 包; 包 supplies the sound.

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 擊; 击 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

手手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

毄

毄jī擊jī

Same sound today

The traditional form 擊 has 手 (hand) and 毄; 毄 gives the sound and also points to striking, while the simplified 击 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

Military & Defense

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