lampwick; trivial thing
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 2 examplesnoun
lampwick; rush pith (from Juncus effusus)
Historically, the white, spongy pith of the 'rush' plant (灯芯草) was dried and used as a wick in traditional oil lamps. Now largely obsolete for its literal use but persists in idioms.
Nǎi奶
nai奶
huí回
yì忆
qǐ起
guò过
qù去
，
xū需
yào要
yòng用
dēng灯
cǎo草
lái来
diǎn点
yóu油
dēng灯
。
Grandma recalls the old days when you needed lampwick to light an oil lamp.
Zhè这
zhǒng种
dēng灯
cǎo草
yì易
rán燃
，
shì是
hěn很
hǎo好
de的
dēng灯
xīn芯
cái材
liào料
。
This kind of rush pith is highly flammable and makes excellent wick material.