骋 (chěng): to gallop

Meanings

1 to gallop
2 to give free rein to

Characters

骋

chěng

to gallop

Examples

HSK 7-9

他在草原上纵马驰骋。

Tā zài cǎoyuán shàng zòngmǎ chíchěng.

He let his horse gallop freely across the grassland.

HSK 7-9

写小说让她驰骋想象。

Xiě xiǎoshuō ràng tā chíchěng xiǎngxiàng.

Writing fiction lets her imagination run free.

Tips

usage

Almost always seen in 驰骋 (to gallop). It extends from horses to abstract action: 驰骋疆场 (charge across the battlefield) or 驰骋想象 (let imagination roam).

Components

radical

马 mǎ

horse

The horse radical on the left, in its compact simplified shape. It anchors the meaning: to gallop is an action of a horse. The same radical groups 驰, 驶, and 骋 as horse-motion verbs.

phonetic

甹 pīng

phonetic component

Supplies the sound. The reading has drifted from pīng to chěng, so it now serves only as a pronunciation hint with no meaning contribution to this horse verb.