补补 (bǔ bǔ) — to do a bit of mending or repairing (casually o…

Definition

补 (bǔ) means to mend or patch something — clothes, leaks, small damage. It can reduplicate as 补补 to mean doing it casually or briefly, not a thorough job.

verb

to do a bit of mending or repairing (casually or briefly)to patch up loosely

Examples

，补补。
Zhè jiàn yī fu pò le, wǒ xiǎng bǔ bǔ yí xià.
This piece of clothing is torn; I want to do a bit of mending.
补补。
Tā huā le yí gè xiǎo shí bǔ bǔ lòu dòng.
He spent an hour patching up the hole.
补补，。
Wǒ men kě yǐ xiān bǔ bǔ, zài kǎo lǜ huàn xīn de.
We can do a quick repair first, then consider replacing it.

Origin

Reduplicated word

构词法gòucífǎ

重叠chóngdiéReduplication

A syllable said twice — for affection, for softness, or simply because that is how the word is said.

补bǔmend

Repeating 补 suggests doing the mending only briefly or casually.

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 補; 补 is its simplified writing.

衤甫補

Meaning part形符xíngfú

衤Written in full as衣yīclothes

Sound part声符shēngfú

甫

甫fǔ補bǔ

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 補 shows 衤 (clothes) beside 甫, which gives the sound; the simplified 补 is a later shorthand, so its shape is not the historical breakdown.

Open 补 →