Meaning of 消防
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- firefighting
- fire control
How to use 消防
消防 often comes before another noun, as in 消防员 (xiāofángyuán, firefighter), 消防车 (xiāofángchē, fire truck) and 消防队 (xiāofángduì, fire brigade). Example: 消防员很快就到了。(Xiāofángyuán hěn kuài jiù dào le.) The firefighters arrived very quickly.
消 (xiāo) means to eliminate or make disappear, as in 消失 (xiāoshī), and 防 (fáng) means to guard against, as in 预防 (yùfáng). Firefighting is putting fires out and guarding against new ones: 消 + 防.
Common mistake: Learners often say 消防 alone when they mean a person, but a firefighter is 消防员 (xiāofángyuán). Also keep 防 (fáng) in the second tone. Do not confuse it with 房 (fáng, house) or 访 (fǎng, to visit).
消防 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
消 xiāo · to diminish · 10 strokes
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- 2
- 3
- 4
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- 9
- 10
防 fáng · to protect · 6 strokes
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- 6
Related words
Words that share a character with 消防.
| 消息 | xiāoxi | (piece of) news; information; message |
| 消失 | xiāoshī | to disappear; to fade away |
| 取消 | qǔxiāo | to cancel; to call off; to revoke; to rescind |
| 防止 | fángzhǐ | to prevent; to guard against |
| 消费 | xiāofèi | to consume (goods and services, resources etc) |
| 预防 | yùfáng | to prevent; to take precautions against |
| 消化 | xiāohuà | to digest (food); (fig.) to absorb (information etc); to assimilate; to process |
| 消除 | xiāochú | to eliminate; to remove |
| 消毒 | xiāodú | to disinfect; to sterilize |
| 消极 | xiāojí | negative; passive |
| 消费者 | xiāofèizhě | consumer |
| 防治 | fángzhì | to prevent and cure; prevention and cure |
Questions about 消防
What does 消防 mean?
消防 (xiāofáng) means "firefighting; fire control" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 消防?
消防 is made of 2 characters: 消 (10 strokes), 防 (6 strokes). That is 16 strokes in total.
Is 消防 an HSK word?
Yes. 消防 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do I say "fire" or "put out a fire" in Chinese?
Fire is 火 (huǒ), and a building fire is often 火灾 (huǒzāi). To put out a fire is 灭火 (mièhuǒ) or 救火 (jiùhuǒ). 消防 is the more formal name for the whole field of fire control.
What is the emergency number for the fire department in China?
In mainland China you dial 119 for fire emergencies. People may say 打119 (dǎ yāo yāo jiǔ), reading 1 as yāo in phone numbers.