The Chinese word 溜冰 (liūbīng) is a compound verb formed through a logical verb-object construction: the first character 溜 (liū) means "to slide" or "to glide smoothly", and the second character 冰 (bīng) means "ice". Combined, they literally describe the action of "gliding on ice", i.e., ice-skating. Over time, its meaning has extended metaphorically to also include roller-skating or inline skating on non-ice surfaces, but the core formation remains a direct and vivid depiction of the activity by combining the action with its primary medium.