飞沙走石
fēi shā zǒu shí
sand flying and stones rolling: a violent gale
Character by character
飞fēi
fly
fly
沙shā
sand
sand
走zǒu
run
run
石shí
stone
stone
Example
下午突然刮起大风，飞沙走石，路上的行人都睁不开眼睛。
In the afternoon a gale suddenly blew up, sending sand and stones flying, and people in the street could not keep their eyes open.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
走 keeps its old sense of “run”, as in 奔走. It describes a gale in dry country, often after 刮得 or 一阵: 风刮得飞沙走石. Old novels use it for battles and magic storms.
Learn this in Lesson 170 · HSK 7–9: 绿色长城 (The Green Great Wall)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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