倒手 (dǎo shǒu) — to change hands (of goods, merchandise, ownership)

Definition

倒手 (dǎoshǒu) is a separable verb meaning to resell or transfer something (goods, property) to another person — i.e. it changes hands. Often implies a quick flip for profit.

verb
to change hands (of goods, merchandise, ownership)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 。
    Zhè pī huò yǐ jīng dǎo guò jǐ cì shǒu le.
    This batch of goods has already changed hands several times.
  • 倒手。
    Tā bǎ nà jiā diàn dǎo shǒu mài gěi bié rén le.
    He sold that store to someone else after having it change hands.
  • 倒手，。
    dǎo shǒu Zhī hòu, shāng pǐn de jià gé fān le yí bèi.
    After the change of hands, the price of the goods doubled.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

倒dǎotransfer
手shǒuhand

In 倒手, 倒 conveys transferring or changing, while 手 points to hands, so the image is goods passing from one hand to another.

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 →

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Open 手 →

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