火
huǒ
One flame makes the lamp, the heat and the cigarette
The picture A flame licking upward from below, pressed against the character. 火 is fire leaping up and drying, 氵 is water running down and soaking.
Where the picture shows up in 火
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the flame climbing up
厨房的火开得太大了。
chúfáng de huǒ kāi de tài dà le
The kitchen flame is turned up too high.
A flame licking up off the burner like a tongue
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tossing things over fire
晚上我炒两个菜。
wǎnshang wǒ chǎo liǎng gè cài
I'll stir-fry two dishes tonight.
Food jumping and turning in a pan over a hard flame
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the light a fire gives
天黑了,请把灯打开。
tiān hēi le, qǐng bǎ dēng dǎkāi
It's dark — please turn on the light.
A small flame seated inside a shade, filling the room with light
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fire spreading through air
今天太热了,开空调吧。
jīntiān tài rè le, kāi kōngtiáo ba
It's too hot today, let's turn on the AC.
Fire laid under the character heating the air until bodies go limp
The four dots 灬 at the foot are the same fire, flattened out.
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what rises off the fire
这里不能抽烟。
zhèlǐ bù néng chōu yān
You can't smoke in here.
A thin thread of smoke winding up off the embers
All of it in one picture
火 is one flame going up. Rising from a burner it is fire; rising under a pan it is stir-frying. Seated inside a shade it is a lamp, spread through the air it is heat, drifting thin above the embers it is smoke. Wherever fire clings to the side or the foot of a character, something in there is hot.