胸口 (xiōng kǒu) — chest, middle of the chest | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

chestmiddle of the chest

Examples

胸口。
Tā gǎn dào xiōng kǒu yí zhèn jù tòng.
He felt a sharp pain in his chest.
胸口。
Yī shēng yòng shǒu àn le àn tā de xiōng kǒu.
The doctor pressed on his chest with his hand.
，胸口。
Pǎo bù hòu, tā de xiōng kǒu qǐ fú bú dìng.
After running, her chest was heaving up and down.

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.

口kǒuopening; area

胸 means chest and 口 can mean an opening or area, so 胸口 points to the front area of the chest.

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

肉肉ròumeat

Sound part声符shēngfú

匈

匈xiōng胸xiōng

Same sound today

胸 adds 肉 (meat/flesh) to the original form 匈, which provides the sound.

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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