Example sentences
qǐng请děng等yí一xià下。
Please wait a moment.
wǒ我kàn看yī一xià下。
Let me take a look.
About this word
一 is one and 下 is a downward stroke, the single motion of a hand, so the pair counts one brief movement. 下 works as a verbal measure word (看一下, take one look; 打一下, hit once), which makes 一下 mean one quick go at something. After a verb it softens the whole sentence, so it is everywhere in polite requests: 请问一下, 等一下, 帮我一下. 看一下 is lighter than plain 看, and 休息一下 means take a short break. Before the fourth tone of 下, 一 shifts to yí, so the word is said yíxià.
The story behind the character
一
One horizontal stroke, the simplest character there is. Yet Xu Shen loaded it with the heaviest meaning: 一, 惟初太始: "one, the very beginning, where the Way is set and heaven and earth divide." One stroke, holding up the whole start of the universe. That might be the most weight a single line has ever carried.
下
The mirror image of 上. A line with a short mark below it. Xu Shen wrote 下, 底也: "down, the bottom." Another indicated direction, plain as can be.