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血泊 (xuè bó) — pool of blood

Definition

Literary/literary-style noun for a 'pool of blood' — written or journalistic register, not everyday speech. Always used with 滩 as its measure word, as in 一滩血泊.

noun
pool of blood
Measure word · 摊

Examples

  • 血泊。
    Dì shàng yǒu yí dà tān xuè bó.
    There is a large pool of blood on the ground.
  • 血泊。
    Jǐng chá zài xuè bó zhōng fā xiàn le yí gè qīng xī de jiǎo yìn.
    The police found a clear footprint in the pool of blood.
  • 血泊，。
    Tā dǎo zài xuè bó zhī zhōng, yí dòng bú dòng.
    He lay motionless in the pool of blood.

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.

血xuèblood
泊bópool

血 names the blood, and 泊 names a pool, so together they mean a pool of blood.

Characters in this word

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

  • 一一yīdrop of blood
  • 皿皿mǐncontainer

The shape shows 一, a drop of blood, inside 皿, a container, for blood held in a sacrificial vessel.

Open 血 →

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
白
白bái泊bó
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The 水 part shows water. The 白 part gives the sound, and the picture is of a ship staying still after running aground in shallow water.

Open 泊 →
Appears in
Organs & Anatomy

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