About
垃 (lā) is a phonosemantic compound: the radical 土 (tǔ, 'earth') conveys the meaning of soil or ground, while 立 (lì) provides the pronunciation. The character appears almost exclusively as the first part of the common compound 垃圾 (lājī, 'garbage, trash, refuse'). The earth radical suggests an original connection to discarded dirt, debris, or sweepings accumulating on the ground. As waste practices evolved, the term expanded from simple sweepings to include all household and municipal solid waste, and metaphorically, to describe things of extremely low quality or value.
Example Sentences Hide
这里有很多垃圾。
请把垃圾扔掉。
垃圾需要分类。
每天我都倒垃圾。
不要乱丢垃圾。
垃圾堆里发出臭味。
乱扔垃圾会被罚款。
如果我们不减少垃圾，环境就会受到污染。
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