TongTong
Sign in

霹雳 (pī lì) — thunderbolt; thunderclap

Definition

Literary word for a 'thunderbolt' — vivid, dramatic, mostly in writing or idioms like 晴天霹雳 ('a bolt from the blue'). In plain speech 雷 is enough for 'thunder.'

noun
thunderboltthunderclap
Measure word · 道

Examples

  • 霹雳。
    Yí dào pī lì huá pò yè kōng.
    A thunderbolt streaked across the night sky.
  • 霹雳，。
    pī lì Guò hòu, dà yǔ qīng pén ér xià.
    After the thunderclap, a heavy downpour poured down.
  • 霹雳，。
    Tā tīng dào yī shēng pī lì, xià le yí tiào.
    He heard a thunderclap and got a fright.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

霹pī
雳lì

霹 and 雳 carry no independent meaning here; together they name a sudden thunderbolt or thunderclap.

Sound-only characters

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
雨雨yǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
辟
辟pì霹
Same sound today

霹 has 雨 above 辟. Here, 辟 gives the sound, and 雨 shows the general area of meaning.

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 靂; 雳 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
雨雨yǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
歷
歷lì靂
Same sound today

The traditional form 靂 has 雨 (rain) and 歷, which gave the sound. The simplified 雳 is a shorthand, so its right side is not the old sound part.

Appears in
Weather

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.