风干 (fēng gān) — to air-dry (by wind or air circulation)

Definition

A separable verb meaning to air-dry using wind or natural air circulation. Split it as 风干…干 for objects placed to dry, often over weeks or months (food, wood, herbs), unlike machine or heat drying.

verb
to air-dry (by wind or air circulation)

Examples

  • 风干。
    Zhè xiē là ròu xū yào fēng gān yí gè yuè cái néng chī.
    These cured meats need to air-dry for a month before eating.
  • 风干。
    Mù cái fēng gān yǐ hòu jiù bù róng yì biàn xíng le.
    After the wood is air-dried, it won't easily warp.
  • 。
    Bǎ xǐ hǎo de yī fu guà zài yáng tái shàng fēng gān.
    Hang the washed clothes on the balcony to air-dry.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

风 means 'wind' and 干 means 'dry', so it describes drying by air.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 风 →

The simplified 干 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (饼干, 干杯) it is 乾; in others (干, 干活儿) (干扰) it is 幹 or 干.

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 乾; 干 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
Sound part声符shēngfú
倝
倝gàn乾gān
Same sound today
Open 干 →

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