飞毛腿

飛毛腿

fēimáotuǐ

noun #33,689

Meanings

1 fleet-footed runner
2 swift legs
3 (military) Scud missile

Characters

fur; feather; hair

Examples

他是我们班的飞毛腿，跑步从来没输过。

Tā shì wǒmen bān de fēimáotuǐ, pǎobù cónglái méi shū guò.

He's the fleet-footed star of our class — he's never lost a race.

海湾战争期间使用了飞毛腿导弹。

Hǎiwān zhànzhēng qījiān shǐyòng le fēimáotuǐ dǎodàn.

Scud missiles were used during the Gulf War.

Tips

memory

Literally 'flying-fur legs' — legs so fast they sprout feathers. The 'feathered foot' image is borrowed from old wuxia novels where supernaturally fast runners are described as having 飞毛 'flying fur'. Modern bonus meaning: 飞毛腿导弹 (Scud missile) — a phonetic-semantic loan, where 'Scud' sounds vaguely Chinese-fitting and the 'fast missile' meaning is reinforced.

Stroke Order

飞 fēi

毛 máo

腿 tuǐ