动脉 (dòngmài): artery

Measure Word

一条动脉 tiáo

Meanings

1 artery

Characters

Literally 'moving vessel' - the blood vessels that pulse with the heartbeat, carrying blood away from the heart. The opposite is 静脉 ('vein'), literally 'still vessel.'

Examples

HSK 4

长安街是北京的交通大动脉。

Cháng'ān Jiē shì Běijīng de jiāotōng dàdòngmài.

Chang'an Avenue is a major traffic artery of Beijing.

HSK 7-9

动脉血管堵塞是很危险的。

Dòngmài xuèguǎn dǔsè shì hěn wēixiǎn de.

Arterial blockage is very dangerous.

Tips

memory

动脉 (artery) = 动 'moving' + 脉 'vessel.' 静脉 (vein) = 静 'still' + 脉 'vessel.' Arteries pulse (they move), veins don't (they're still). The Chinese names are actually more intuitive than the Latin-derived English ones.