蹶 (jué) — (in 尥蹶子) to kick backward (of animals); to be stubborn (figurative); (in 一蹶不振) to stumble, to collapse
Definition
A bound morpheme used only inside set phrases — 尥蹶子 (an animal kicking backward; figuratively, being stubborn) and 一蹶不振 (to collapse and never recover). It carries the core image of a sudden stumble or backward kick.
bound form
(in 尥蹶子) to kick backward (of animals)to be stubborn (figurative)(in 一蹶不振) to stumbleto collapse
Easily confused
- 噘juēlook-aliketo pout
- 绝juésound-alike(verb) to cut off; to vanish; to become extinct
- 撅juēlook-aliketo stick up (tail, buttocks, etc.)
- 决juésound-aliketo decide, to determine (bound form; used in 决定, 决心, etc.)
- 掘juésound-aliketo dig; to excavate
- 爵juésound-alike(bound form) ancient bronze wine vessel with three legs and a loop handle, used in rituals
Examples
- 尥蹶，。Nà pǐ mǎ tū rán liào jué zi, bǎ qí shǒu shuāi le xià lái.That horse suddenly kicked backward and threw the rider off.
- ，。Gōng sī jīng guò zhè cì wēi jī hòu yì jué bú zhèn, hěn nán huī fù.After this crisis, the company collapsed and was hard to recover.
- 尥蹶。Tā xīn qíng bù hǎo shí jiù ài liào jué zi.When he's in a bad mood, he tends to kick back (stubbornly refuse to cooperate).
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