xiē

to rest

to take a break; to stop; to halt; (dialect) to sleep; a moment; a short while

phonetic (曷) + yawn/exhaust (欠) = to rest and stop

欠 depicts someone leaning back with mouth open — the posture of yawning or being spent. 曷 contributes the sound xiē; the meaning of stopping to catch your breath comes from 欠 alone.

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An old character meaning 'why'Phonetic
To yawnSemantic

走了很久,我们找个地方一歇吧。

zǒu le hěn jiǔ, wǒ men zhǎo ge dì fāng xiē yi xiē ba.

We have been walking for a long time, let's find a place to rest for a bit.

他干活干到很晚,都没有过。

tā gàn huó gàn dào hěn wǎn, dōu méi yǒu xiē guò.

He worked until very late without ever stopping to rest.

Words with 歇

间歇

jiàn xiē

to stop in the middle of sth

间歇训练

jiàn xiē xùn liàn

interval training

关店歇业

guān diàn xiē yè

to close up shop and cease business temporarily

马歇尔

mǎ xiē ěr

Marshall (name)

停歇

tíng xiē

to stop for a rest

冬歇期

dōng xiē qī

winter break

安歇

ān xiē

to go to bed

密歇根

mì xiē gēn

Michigan, US state

密歇根大学

mì xiē gēn dà xué

University of Michigan

密歇根湖

mì xiē gēn hú

Lake Michigan, one of the Great Lakes 五大湖[Wu3 da4 hu2]

歇心

xiē xīn

to drop the matter

歇了吧

xiē le ba

(dialect) give me a break!

More characters with 曷