马蜂

馬蜂

mǎfēng

noun #45,987

Measure Word

一只马蜂 zhī

Meanings

1 hornet
2 wasp (large)

Characters

horse; (here, 'big')

Examples

HSK 7-9

屋檐下有一个马蜂窝，要小心。

Wūyán xià yǒu yīgè mǎfēngwō, yào xiǎoxīn.

There's a hornet's nest under the eaves - be careful.

HSK 7-9

他被马蜂蛰了一下，疼了一整天。

Tā bèi mǎfēng zhē le yīxià, téng le yīzhěngtiān.

He was stung by a hornet and the pain lasted all day.

Tips

culture

捅马蜂窝 (to poke a hornets' nest) is a fixed metaphor for stirring up trouble, the equivalent of the English idiom. The 马 (horse) here just signals 'big', as in 马蜂 = big-sized 蜂 (bee/wasp).

Stroke Order

马 mǎ

蜂 fēng