大牢 (dà láo) — prison, jail | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

prisonjail

Measure word · 座

Examples

大牢。
Tā bèi guān jìn le dà láo.
He was locked in prison.
大牢。
Gǔ dài de dà láo tiáo jiàn fēi cháng è liè.
Conditions in ancient prisons were extremely harsh.
大牢。
Nà ge fàn rén cóng dà láo lǐ táo le chū lái.
That prisoner escaped from jail.

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.

「大」 gives the sense of a large, serious 「牢」, a place of confinement.

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

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

宀牛牢

宀宀miánpen; animal yard
牛牛niúcow

牢 places 牛, a cow, under 宀, a pen or animal yard.

Appears in

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