冰箱

• Pinyin: bīng xiāng
• Hanzi breakdown: 冰 = 冫(ice radical) + 水 (water); 箱 = 竹 (bamboo) + 相 (appearance, phonetic) — originally a bamboo chest

Meaning

Refrigerator; fridge. The standard word for the household appliance used to keep food cold.

Refers to both the refrigerator compartment and the freezer section. In everyday speech, 冰箱 covers the whole appliance. Sometimes people specify 冷冻室 (freezer compartment) or 冷藏室 (fridge compartment) when they need to be precise.

Examples

1. 牛奶喝完了，你去冰箱里再拿一瓶。 The milk is finished; go grab another bottle from the fridge.
2. 剩下的饭菜应该放进冰箱，不然会坏掉。 Leftover food should be put in the fridge, otherwise it will go bad.
3. 我们家的冰箱太小了，放不下这么多东西。 Our fridge at home is too small to fit this much stuff.

Usage Guide

Context: home, everyday, food

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 你把水果放冰箱里吧。(Put the fruit in the fridge.)
• 冰箱里还有昨天买的菜。(There are still vegetables from yesterday in the fridge.)

Don't Say

• 说'冰箱坏了'来表示食物变质了 (Don't say 冰箱坏了 when you mean the food went bad — 冰箱坏了 means the fridge itself is broken; say 食物坏了 for spoiled food)

Origin & History

冰 means 'ice' and 箱 means 'box' or 'chest'. The compound literally describes an 'ice box', reflecting the original concept of cooling food with ice before electric refrigerators.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal