news of death; dead letter
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
2 senses · 6 examplesnoun
news of someone's death; death notice
In some dialects (especially Beijing Mandarin), this sense can take the '-r' suffix (儿化) as 死信儿 (sǐxìnr).
Tā他
tīng听
dào到
fù父
qīn亲
de的
sǐ死
xìn信
hòu后
bēi悲
tòng痛
yù欲
jué绝
。
He was overcome with grief after hearing the news of his father's death.
Jiā家
lǐ里
chuán传
lái来
sǐ死
xìn信
，
shuō说
tā他
nǎi奶
nai奶
qù去
shì世
le了
。
News came from home that his grandmother had passed away.
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Zhè这
fēng封
sǐ死
xìn信
shì是
zuó昨
tiān天
shōu收
dào到
de的
。
This death notice was received yesterday.
noun
dead letter; undeliverable mail
technicalPostal terminology referring to mail that cannot be delivered to the addressee and cannot be returned to the sender.
Zhè这
fēng封
xìn信
yīn因
wèi为
dì地
zhǐ址
bù不
xiáng详
chéng成
le了
sǐ死
xìn信
。
This letter became a dead letter because the address was incomplete.
Yóu邮
jú局
měi每
nián年
yào要
chǔ处
lǐ理
dà大
liàng量
sǐ死
xìn信
。
The post office has to handle a large volume of dead letters every year.
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Rú如
guǒ果
shōu收
jiàn件
rén人
bān搬
jiā家
le了
，
xìn信
jiù就
kě可
néng能
biàn变
chéng成
sǐ死
xìn信
。
If the recipient moves, the letter may become a dead letter.