倒扣 (dào kòu) — to deduct unfairly, to dock (pay, points, or benefits) in an excessive or unjust manner

Definition

倒扣 (dào kòu) means to deduct or dock something (pay, points, benefits) in an unfair, excessive way — the focus is on the unfairness of the cut, not ordinary subtraction.

verb
to deduct unfairly, to dock (pay, points, or benefits) in an excessive or unjust manner

Examples

  • 倒扣。
    Gōng sī wú yuán wú gù dì dào kòu le tā bàn gè yuè de gōng zī.
    The company deducted half a month of his salary for no reason.
  • ，倒扣。
    Píng juàn shí, lǎo shī cuò wù dì dào kòu le xué shēng de fēn shù.
    When grading, the teacher incorrectly deducted points from the student.
  • 倒扣。
    Zhè zhǒng dào kòu zuò fǎ ràng yuán gōng hěn bù mǎn.
    This kind of unfair deduction made employees very dissatisfied.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

倒dǎoreverse
扣kòudeduct

“倒” gives reverse and “扣” gives deduct, so it means to deduct in a reversed or unfair way.

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 →

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
手手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
口
口kǒu扣kòu
Same sound today

扣 puts 手 (hand) beside 口 (mouth); 口 gives the sound, while 手 shows it is about a hand action.

Open 扣 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.