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血腥 (xuè xīng) — bloody, blood-soaked (literal); bloody, gory, violent (figurative, of events/scenes)

Definition

adjective
bloodyblood-soaked (literal)bloodygoryviolent (figurative, of events/scenes)

Examples

  • 血腥。
    Zhè bù diàn yǐng yǒu hěn duō xuè xīng de chǎng miàn.
    This movie has many bloody scenes.
  • 血腥。
    Zhàn zhēng liú xià de xuè xīng jì yì ràng rén nán yǐ wàng jì.
    The bloody memories left by the war are hard to forget.
  • 血腥。
    Tā miáo shù le nà yì chǎng xuè xīng de tú shā.
    He described that bloody massacre.

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
腥xīngraw smell

血 and 腥 bring together blood and a raw smell, giving the sense of reeking 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
肉肉ròumeat; flesh
Sound part声符shēngfú
星
星xīng腥xīng
Same sound today

腥 combines 肉 (meat; flesh) with 星, which supplies its sound.

Open 腥 →
Appears in
Safety & Danger

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