Definition
冒烟 is a separable verb (离合词) meaning 'to emit smoke' — literally, smoke rising from something burning or overheating. It also has a colloquial sense: 'to get angry, to flare up', like 'to blow a fuse' in English. As a verb-object compound, 冒 and 烟 can be split when aspect markers (了, 过) or measure words (一阵) are inserted: 冒了烟, 冒过烟. The object 烟 cannot take a direct object; instead, the subject is the thing that smokes or the person who fumes.
v.o.
to emit smoketo smoke(colloquial) to get angryto flare up
Examples
- 冒烟。Nà liàng jiù chē yìzhí zài mào yān.That old car has been smoking all along.
- ，。Fādòngjī mào le yān, wǒmen gǎnjǐn tíngchē jiǎnchá.The engine emitted smoke, so we quickly stopped the car to check.
- 冒烟，。Lǎobǎn jīntiān yìzhí zài mào yān, dàjiā shuōhuà dōu xiǎoxīn yìyì de.The boss has been fuming all day, so everyone is speaking very cautiously.
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