闭 bì to shut
to shut; to close
How to remember 闭: 门 door + 才 only just = to shut. The caretaker at the school door has only just waved off the last child, and now it is time to shut it for summer.
Component breakdown
闭 = 门 door + 才 only just
- 门 door
- 才 only just
The caretaker at the school door has only just waved off the last child, and now it is time to shut it for summer.
How it is used
- Bound in most compounds but also appears free in a few fixed body-part phrases: 闭眼 (bì yǎn) "close your eyes," 闭嘴 (bì zuǐ) "shut up" (blunt/rude).
- 关闭 guānbì is the formal word for shutting down something abstract - a system, a business, a website - distinct from everyday 关 for closing a door or turning off a device.
- 倒闭 dǎobì means "go bankrupt/close down" for a business, and 闭幕式 bìmùshì "closing ceremony" is the fixed opposite of 开幕式 kāimùshì - 参加开幕式 (cānjiā kāimùshì) attend the opening ceremony.