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胸腔 (xiōng qiāng) — thoracic cavity

Definition

noun
thoracic cavity

Examples

  • 胸腔。
    Yī shēng yòng tīng zhěn qì jiǎn chá le bìng rén de xiōng qiāng.
    The doctor examined the patient's thoracic cavity with a stethoscope.
  • 胸腔，。
    Kōng qì tōng guò qì guǎn jìn rù xiōng qiāng, fèi yè suí zhī kuò zhāng.
    Air enters the thoracic cavity through the trachea, and the lung lobes expand accordingly.
  • 胸腔。
    xiōng qiāng Nèi de fù yā duì hū xī zhì guān zhòng yào.
    The negative pressure inside the thoracic cavity is crucial for breathing.

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.

胸xiōngchest
腔qiāngcavity

“胸” means chest and “腔” means cavity; together they name the body cavity in 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.

Open 胸 →

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

腔 is made from 肉 (meat; flesh) plus 空 (empty; hollow), where 空 supplies the sound.

Open 腔 →
Appears in
Organs & Anatomy

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