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跑马 (pǎo mǎ) — (verb-object) to ride a horse; to gallop; (euphemism, dated) to have a nocturnal emission

Definition

Verb-object compound meaning 'to ride a horse / gallop' (e.g. 他在草原上跑马). The second sense — a dated euphemism for a nocturnal emission — is archaic and rarely used today; learners will mostly meet it in literature.

verb
(verb-object) to ride a horseto gallop(euphemism, dated) to have a nocturnal emission

Examples

  • 跑马。
    Tā měi tiān zài cǎo yuán shàng pǎo mǎ.
    He rides a horse on the grassland every day.
  • ，。
    Tā pǎo le yí cì mǎ, jué de hěn kāi xīn.
    He rode a horse once and felt very happy.
  • 跑马。
    Tā xǐ huan qù jiāo wài pǎo mǎ.
    He likes to go ride horses in the suburbs.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

跑pǎorun/ride
马mǎhorse

跑马 uses '跑' for running/riding and '马' for horse.

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
足足zúfoot
Sound part声符shēngfú
包
包bāo跑pǎo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

跑 combines 足, showing a foot, with 包, which gives the sound.

Open 跑 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 馬; 马 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 馬 shows a horse with its head facing left, a flowing mane, and two legs standing vertically.

Open 马 →
Appears in
Sports & Athletics

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