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剖腹 (pōu fù) — to cut open the abdomen (e.g., in surgery); (figurative) to be completely sincere, to bare one's heart

Definition

Literally 'cut open the abdomen' (surgery), and figuratively 'bare one's heart' — usually appears in the set phrase 剖腹藏珠, meaning to sacrifice everything for a treasured thing.

verb
to cut open the abdomen (e.g., in surgery)(figurative) to be completely sincereto bare one's heart

Examples

  • ，。
    Yī shēng gěi tā pōu le yí cì fù, qǔ chū le zhǒng liú.
    The doctor performed an abdominal surgery on him and removed the tumor.
  • 剖腹。
    Zhè zhǒng shǒu shù xū yào pōu fù cái néng wán chéng.
    This type of surgery requires cutting open the abdomen to complete.
  • 剖腹。
    Tā pōu fù duì wǒ shuō chū le cáng zài xīn lǐ duō nián de huà.
    He bared his heart and told me what he had kept in his heart for years.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

剖pōucut open
腹fùbelly

剖 is to cut open and 腹 is the belly, so the word means cutting open the stomach.

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
刂Written in full as刀dāoknife
Sound part声符shēngfú
咅
咅pǒu剖pōu
Same sound today

剖 pairs 刂, a knife, with 咅 for sound, to write cutting something in two.

Open 剖 →

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
肉肉ròumeat; flesh
Sound part声符shēngfú
复
复fù腹⁰fù
Same sound today

The left part 肉, meaning flesh, shows this is a body part, and the right part 复 gives the sound.

Open 腹 →
Appears in
Medicine & Treatment

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