扑空 (pū kōng) — to miss someone (by arriving when they're not there); to come up empty-handed (after making an effort)
Definition
扑空 means making an effort to find someone or get something but coming away with nothing. It emphasizes the failed trip itself, not just the empty-handed result.
verb
to miss someone (by arriving when they're not there)to come up empty-handed (after making an effort)
Examples
- ，扑空。Wǒ qù tā jiā zhǎo tā, jié guǒ yòu pū kōng le.I went to his place to find him, but he was out again.
- ，。Jīn tiān qù shū diàn mǎi nà běn shū, méi xiǎng dào yòu pū le gè kōng.I went to the bookstore for that book today, but unexpectedly it was sold out again.
- 扑空，。Tā pǎo le hǎo jǐ jiā diàn dōu pū kōng, zuì hòu cái zhǎo dào.He went to several stores and came up empty each time before finally finding it.
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