跳水

• Pinyin: tiào shuǐ
• Hanzi breakdown: 跳 = to jump; 水 = water — to dive into water

Meaning

Diving (as a sport); to dive into water. The athletic discipline of performing acrobatic jumps into water.

China dominates Olympic diving, making this a well-known sport. Types include: 跳台跳水 (platform diving), 跳板跳水 (springboard diving), 双人跳水 (synchronized diving). Also used literally for jumping into water in general. Common collocations: 跳水运动员 (diver), 跳水比赛 (diving competition), 跳水冠军 (diving champion).

Examples

1. 中国跳水队被称为梦之队，几乎包揽了所有金牌。 The Chinese diving team is called the dream team, having won nearly all the gold medals.
2. 她在跳板跳水项目中获得了满分。 She received a perfect score in the springboard diving event.
3. 小时候我们常在河里跳水游泳。 When we were kids, we often jumped into the river to swim.

Usage Guide

Context: sports, Olympics, recreation

Tone: athletic

Do Say

• 中国跳水队又夺冠了！(The Chinese diving team won again!)
• 跳水的难度系数很高。(The difficulty coefficient of diving is very high.)

Don't Say

• 水肺潜水不叫'跳水'，叫'潜水' (Scuba diving is not 跳水 — that's 潜水; 跳水 is athletic diving from a height)

Origin & History

Compound of 跳 (to jump) + 水 (water). Literally 'to jump into water,' now primarily used for the competitive sport.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal