verb

Meanings

  1. 1 to warm something up by contact with a hot object

Examples

热水袋
Tā yòng rèshuǐdài wù shǒu.
She used a hot-water bottle to warm her hands.
Bǎ shèngfàn yòng bèizi wù rè.
Wrap the leftover rice in a quilt to keep it warm.

Tips

usage
is colloquial and northern: it means warming a cold thing by pressing a hot thing against it, hands on a hot water bottle, a cold bed warmed by a person. It's about transferred body or contact heat, not cooking.
memory
Fire plus ('I/me'): bring the warmth (fire) close to me, to snuggle something warm.

Components

radical
huǒ
fire
The fire radical on the left supplies the meaning, warmth and heat, which is exactly what the action 'to warm by contact' is about.
phonetic
I; me
gives the sound (shifted from wú to wù); it carries no meaning, only the reading.

Stroke Order