烘干
hōng gān · HSK 7
to dry over a stove
🔥💨 烘 (heat over fire) + 干 (dry) = dry something out with heat
烘 carries the 火 fire radical on its left, marking heat as the method; 干 means dry. Together they name drying laundry or food with warm air or a stove rather than sunlight.
干 — pictograph of a forked weapon/shield
干 originally depicted a forked wooden weapon or shield used in ancient warfare, giving the early sense of 'to offend' or 'to oppose.' Over time it took on extended meanings like 'to concern' and 'trunk/stem.' In modern simplified Chinese it also absorbed 乾 (dry) and 幹 (to do; trunk), so one character now covers several unrelated words.