糊口 (hú kǒu) — to make a living (usually barely enough to get… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A written/literary verb meaning 'to scrape together a living' — implies income is just enough to survive, not prosper.

verb

to make a living (usually barely enough to get by)

Examples

糊口。
Tā kào zuò xiǎo shēng yì miǎn qiǎng hú kǒu.
He barely makes a living by running a small business.
，。
Tā yì rén gōng zuò, què hú bù liǎo quán jiā de kǒu.
He works alone but can't support the whole family.
糊口。
Nà ge nián dài hěn duō nóng mín kào zhòng dì hú kǒu.
In those years many farmers made a living by farming.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

糊 for pasting plus 口 for mouth gives barely feeding oneself.

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.

米胡糊

Meaning part形符xíngfú

米米mǐrice

Sound part声符shēngfú

胡

胡hú糊hú

Same sound today

糊 pairs 米 (rice) with 胡 (hú), which gives the sound. The 米 part relates to the meaning.

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

The form 口 looks like an open mouth.

Appears in

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