鼻涕 (bí tì) — nasal mucus, snot | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

nasal mucussnot

Measure word · 条

Examples

，鼻涕。
Tā gǎn mào le, yì zhí liú bí tì.
He has a cold and keeps having a runny nose.
鼻涕。
Kuài yòng zhǐ jīn xǐng bí tì.
Quickly blow your nose with a tissue.
鼻涕。
Xiǎo gǒu de bí tì cèng dào le shā fā shàng.
The puppy's snot got smeared on the sofa.

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.

鼻 names the nose, and 涕 names mucus, so the phrase is nasal mucus.

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.

自畀鼻

Meaning part形符xíngfú

自自zìnose

Sound part声符shēngfú

畀

畀bì鼻bí

Same sound today

鼻 pairs 自, meaning nose, with 畀, which gives the sound.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

氵弟涕

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐ

Sound part声符shēngfú

弟

Same sound today

涕 combines 氵, a form of 水 meaning water, with 弟 (dì), which gives a sound clue.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Illness & Symptoms

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