Meaning of 炸药
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- explosive; blasting agent; dynamite
How to use 炸药
炸药 is the everyday word for explosives, used in news, mining, war stories and films. It also appears figuratively for a tense situation, as in 火药味 for a heated mood. Example: 工人用炸药炸开了山石。(Gōngrén yòng zhàyào zhà kāi le shānshí.) The workers used explosives to blast open the rock.
炸 (zhà) has the fire radical 火 on the left, so think of something bursting with fire. 药 (yào) means medicine or a chemical substance, so 炸药 is the substance that explodes.
Common mistake: 炸 has two readings. In 炸药 and 爆炸 it is fourth tone zhà, but when it means to deep fry, as in 炸鸡 (zhájī), it is second tone zhá. Learners often mix these up.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
炸 zhà · to burst · 9 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
药 yào · medicine · 9 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
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- 9
Related words
Words that share a character with 炸药.
| 药片 | yàopiàn | a (medicine) pill or tablet |
| 药店 | yàodiàn | pharmacy; drugstore |
| 药水 | yàoshuǐ | medicine in liquid form; bottled medicine |
| 药物 | yàowù | medicaments; pharmaceuticals |
| 中药 | zhōngyào | traditional Chinese medicine |
| 爆炸 | bàozhà | explosion; to explode |
| 炸弹 | zhàdàn | bomb |
| 药品 | yàopǐn | medicaments; medicine |
| 医药 | yīyào | medical care and medicines; medicine (drug) |
| 轰炸 | hōngzhà | to bomb; to bombard |
| 安眠药 | ānmiányào | sleeping pill |
| 火药 | huǒyào | gunpowder |
Questions about 炸药
What does 炸药 mean?
炸药 (zhàyào) means "explosive; blasting agent; dynamite" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 炸药?
炸药 is made of 2 characters: 炸 (9 strokes), 药 (9 strokes). That is 18 strokes in total.
Is 炸药 an HSK word?
Yes. 炸药 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 炸药 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 炸药 is written 炸藥.
Why does 炸药 use 药, the character for medicine?
药 also covers chemical substances and powders in general, not only medicine. You see the same idea in 火药 (huǒyào), gunpowder, and 农药 (nóngyào), pesticide.
What is the difference between 炸药 and 火药?
火药 (huǒyào) usually means gunpowder, the traditional black powder used in fireworks and old guns. 炸药 is the broader term for explosives, including modern ones like dynamite or TNT.