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中毒 (zhòng dú) — to be poisoned; to be addicted (to sth.)

Definition

中毒 is a verb meaning 'to be poisoned' (by a substance) or, in a figurative sense, 'to be addicted / hooked' on something. Pairs with 毒 (dú) as the agent or object — 毒 is the poison itself, 中毒 is the resulting state of being affected by it.

verb
to be poisonedto be addicted (to sth.)

Examples

  • ，。
    Tā zuó tiān zài wài miàn chī le bù gān jìng de dōng xī, zhōng le yí cì dú.
    He ate something unclean outside yesterday and got poisoned once.
  • ，中毒。
    Zhè zhǒng mó gu yǒu dú, chī duō le huì zhòng dú.
    This kind of mushroom is poisonous; eating too much will poison you.
  • 中毒，。
    Tā zuì jìn wán yóu xì zhòng dú le, měi tiān wán dào hěn wǎn.
    He's been addicted to playing games lately, playing until very late every day.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

中zhōngto incur
毒dúpoison

中毒 uses 中, here meaning to incur, with 毒, poison, to describe being affected by poison.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The original picture showed a flagpole with a drum in the middle, set up in the center of a field.

Open 中 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
屮屮chèvegetation
Sound part声符shēngfú
毐
毐ǎi毒dú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

毒 pairs 屮, a plant part, with 毐 as a sound part; this form was used for a poisonous plant.

Open 毒 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Illness & Symptoms

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