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阵

陣
zhèn
measure word HSK 4 #4,844

Meanings

  1. 1 a burst; a spell; a gust (classifier for short periods or sudden occurrences)
  2. 2 battle formation; front

Examples

刮了一阵大风。
Guā le yīzhèn dàfēng.
A gust of strong wind blew.
他笑了一阵。
Tā xiào le yīzhèn.
He laughed for a while.
一阵雷声把我吵醒了。
Yīzhèn léishēng bǎ wǒ chǎo xǐng le.
A burst of thunder woke me up.
下了一阵雨就停了。
Xià le yīzhèn yǔ jiù tíng le.
It rained for a spell and then stopped.

Tips

grammar
一阵 is a classifier for sudden, short-lived events: 一阵风 (a gust of wind), 一阵雨 (a spell of rain), 一阵笑声 (a burst of laughter), 一阵疼痛 (a wave of pain).
history
The original meaning of 阵 is a military formation (阵法). This still appears in words like 阵地 (position/front) and 阵容 (lineup).

Components

radical
阝 fù
mound; hill (left-form)
Left mound radical, the left-side form of 阜, picturing a stepped hillside or rampart. It supplies the meaning: troops drawn up along an earthwork — a battle line, a formation. From there 阵 generalises to 'array, formation, a burst' as in 一阵风 'a gust of wind'. Same family includes 防, 阻, 险.
semantic
车 chē
cart; chariot
Right 车 is the cart radical (simplified from 車, an overhead view of a chariot). In the traditional 陣 it slotted in as part of the battle imagery: war chariots arrayed along a rampart formed the classic ancient Chinese 'battle array'. The chariot here is semantic, not phonetic — pure picture of warfare drawn up in lines.

Stroke Order

阵 zhèn