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脉搏 (mài bó) — pulse (medical measurement of heartbeat); pulse (figurative, e.g., rhythm of a city or life)

Definition

脉搏 is the noun 'pulse' — the heartbeat rhythm felt at the wrist, or figuratively the rhythm of a city or era. Unlike the verb 跳动 ('to pulse/throb'), 脉搏 names the thing itself.

noun
pulse (medical measurement of heartbeat)pulse (figurative, e.g., rhythm of a city or life)

Examples

  • 脉搏。
    Yī shēng yòng tīng zhěn qì jiǎn chá bìng rén de mài bó.
    The doctor checks the patient's pulse with a stethoscope.
  • 脉搏。
    Zhè ge chéng shì de mài bó suí zhe jīng jì fā zhǎn biàn de gèng jiā qiáng jìng.
    The pulse of this city has become stronger with economic development.
  • 脉搏，。
    Tā de mài bó yuè lái yuè ruò, qíng kuàng shí fēn wēi jí.
    His pulse is getting weaker, and the situation is critical.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

脉màivessel
搏bóbeat

脉 “vessel” and 搏 “beat” combine to mean the pulse, as vessels beat.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 脈; 脉 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺼Written in full as肉ròuflesh
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠂢
𠂢𠂢脈mài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 脈 pairs ⺼ (flesh) with a sound part, 𠂢; the simplified 脉 is a shorthand, so its right side is not the historical sound part.

Open 脉 →

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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
尃
尃fū搏bó
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

搏 puts 手 (hand) beside 尃, which gives the sound; the hand part points to actions done with the hand.

Open 搏 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Medicine & TreatmentOrgans & Anatomy

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