miǎo

second (unit of time)

arc second (angular measurement unit); (coll.) instantly

grain tip (禾) + few (少) = the tiniest sliver of time

The grain radical (禾) points to the tiny tip of a grain stalk — the finest, smallest part. 少 lends the sound miǎo and also quietly echoes the idea of smallness, making this the tiniest slice of time.

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FewPhonetic
Grain plantSemantic

他跑完一百米只用了十

tā pǎo wán yī bǎi mǐ zhǐ yòng le shí miǎo。

He ran a hundred meters in just ten seconds.

倒计时还剩最后三,大家都紧张地看着。

dào jì shí hái shèng zuì hòu sān miǎo,dà jiā dōu jǐn zhāng de kàn zhe。

There were only three seconds left in the countdown, and everyone watched nervously.

Words with 秒

阿秒

ā miǎo

(physics) attosecond (10⁻¹⁸ s)

飞秒

fēi miǎo

femtosecond, fs, 10^-15 s

三秒胶

sān miǎo jiāo

superglue

分秒必争

fēn miǎo bì zhēng

seize every minute and second (idiom); not a minute to lose

奈秒

nài miǎo

nanosecond, ns, 10^-9 s (Tw)

微秒

wēi miǎo

microsecond, µs, 10^-6 s

数秒

shǔ miǎo

to count the number of seconds (between two events)

每分每秒

měi fēn měi miǎo

each and every moment

毫秒

háo miǎo

millisecond, ms

争分夺秒

zhēng fēn duó miǎo

lit. fight minutes, snatch seconds (idiom); a race against time

皮秒

pí miǎo

picosecond, ps, 10^-12 s

秒回

miǎo huí

(neologism) (slang) to respond to a message within seconds

More characters with 禾