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卧底 (wò dǐ) — to go undercover, to work as a planted agent

Definition

Can be used as a verb ('to go undercover') or as a noun ('undercover agent'). Often takes 当 to mean 'serve as' an undercover agent, as in 当了三年卧底.

verb
to go undercoverto work as a planted agent

Examples

  • 卧底。
    Jǐng chá pài tā wò dǐ dào fàn dú jí tuán nèi bù.
    The police sent him undercover into the drug trafficking ring.
  • 卧底，。
    Tā dāng le sān nián wò dǐ, zhōng yú shōu jí dào guān jiàn zhèng jù.
    He worked undercover for three years and finally gathered key evidence.
  • 卧底，。
    wò dǐ De shēn fèn yí dàn bào lù, jiù huì yǒu shēng mìng wēi xiǎn.
    Once an undercover identity is exposed, life is in danger.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

卧wòlie
底dǐbottom

卧 means lie and 底 means bottom, evoking lying at the bottom as an undercover agent.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 臥; 卧 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 臥 pairs 臣 (an eye pointing down) with 人 (a person).

Open 卧 →

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
广广guǎngbuilding
Sound part声符shēngfú
氐
氐dī底dǐ
Same sound today

底 pairs 广 (building) with 氐, pointing to the bottom or foundation of a building. Some read 氐 as a bowing figure or tree root, adding a sense of 'down'.

Open 底 →
Appears in
Crime & Police5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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