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倒台 (dǎo tái) — to fall from power; to go bankrupt

Definition

Means a government or leader 'falls from power' (often through scandal or overthrow) and, by extension, a company 'goes bankrupt.' Usually carries a negative, dramatic tone — not used for ordinary resignations or business closures.

verb
to fall from powerto go bankrupt

Examples

  • 倒台。
    Nà ge fǔ bài de zhèng fǔ zhōng yú dǎo tái le.
    That corrupt government finally fell from power.
  • 。
    Tā yīn wèi chǒu wén dǎo le tái.
    He fell from power because of a scandal.
  • ，倒台。
    Nà jiā gōng sī jīng yíng bú shàn, zuì hòu dǎo tái le.
    That company mismanaged and eventually went bankrupt.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

倒dǎotopple
台táiplatform

倒 means to topple, and 台 is the platform that falls, giving the sense of losing power.

Characters in this word

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
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
到
到dào倒dào
Same sound today

倒 combines 亻 (person) with 到, which gives the sound.

Open 倒 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 臺; 台 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 台 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (窗台, 电视台) it is 臺; in others (台灯, 台球) (台风) it is 檯 or 台 or 颱.

The traditional form 臺 is the 喬 + 室 form; earlier versions combined a sound part with 室, and an old reading saw it as a watch tower.

Open 台 →
Appears in
Government & Politics

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