Definitions
(of a bird) to fly swiftly; to swoop
Etymology
About
The character 鴥 (yù) is a phono-semantic compound: the semantic component 鳥 (niǎo) indicates a bird, while the phonetic element 穴 (xué) suggests the pronunciation. It describes a bird flying swiftly or darting through the air, capturing a sense of sudden, rapid motion. This character appears mainly in classical poetry, such as the Book of Songs, to vividly depict the swooping flight of birds; it has no common modern usage outside of such literary contexts.
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