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蹭 (cèng) — to rub against, to brush against; to move slowly, to shuffle; (coll.) to freeload, to get for free

Definition

A casual verb with three distinct senses: physically rubbing/brushing against something, shuffling along slowly, or freeloading (a meal, a ride). The rubbing sense often reduplicates as 蹭来蹭去, unlike the unrelated 洗 ('to wash').

verb
to rub againstto brush againstto move slowlyto shuffle(coll.) to freeloadto get for free
Easily confused

Examples

  • 蹭蹭。
    Nà zhī māo xǐ huan zài mén kuàng shàng cèng lái cèng qù.
    That cat likes to rub back and forth on the door frame.
  • ，蹭。
    Tā jiǎo téng, zhǐ néng yí bù yí bù dì wǎng qián cèng.
    His foot hurts, so he can only shuffle forward step by step.
  • 蹭，。
    Zhōu mò tā yòu lái cèng fàn le, lián xiè xie dōu bù shuō.
    He came to freeload a meal again on the weekend, not even saying thank you.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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
曾
曾céng蹭cèng
Same sound today

蹭 pairs 足 (foot) with 曾, which gives the sound.

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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