飞跑 (fēi páo) — to run swiftly, to dash, to race

Definition

verb
to run swiftlyto dashto race

Examples

  • ，飞跑。
    Tīng dào qiāng shēng, mǎ qún kāi shǐ fēi páo.
    Hearing the gunshot, the herd of horses began to run swiftly.
  • 飞跑。
    Hái zi men zài cāo chǎng shàng fēi páo wán shuǎ.
    The children dashed about playing on the playground.
  • 飞跑。
    Tā fēi páo zhe chōng guò le zhōng diǎn xiàn.
    He raced across the finish line.

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.

飞fēifly
跑pǎorun

“飞” adds flying speed to “跑”.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 飛; 飞 is its simplified writing.

For 飞, the traditional form 飛 pictures a bird flying upwards.

Open 飞 →

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

跑 combines 足, showing a foot, with 包, which gives the sound.

Open 跑 →

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