靠手 (kào shǒu) — armrest | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

armrest

Measure word · 个

靠手。
Zhè ge shā fā de kào shǒu hěn shū fu.
The armrest of this sofa is very comfortable.
靠手。
Tā bǎ gē bo fàng zài kào shǒu shàng xiū xi.
He put his arm on the armrest to rest.
靠手。
Fēi jī zuò wèi shàng de kào shǒu kě yǐ tiáo jié.
The armrest on the airplane seat can be adjusted.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

靠 means to lean or support, and 手 is the hand, so the word names a place to rest the hand.

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.

告非靠

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

告

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

靠 is made of 告 and 非: 告 gives the sound, and 非 gives the meaning.

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.