扫视 (sǎo shì) — to sweep one's eyes over, to scan (a space, crowd, or text)

Definition

A quick, sweeping glance across a space, crowd, or text. Unlike 浏览 (skimming for content), 扫视 is just the eye movement — not yet reading.

verb
to sweep one's eyes overto scan (a space, crowd, or text)

Examples

  • ，扫视。
    Tā zǒu jìn jiào shì, sǎo shì le suǒ yǒu xué shēng yì yǎn.
    He walked into the classroom and swept his eyes over all the students.
  • 扫视，。
    Jǐng chá sǎo shì le yí xià sì zhōu, méi yǒu fā xiàn yì cháng.
    The police scanned the surroundings and found nothing unusual.
  • 扫视，。
    Tā kuài sù sǎo shì le wén jiàn, rán hòu qiān le zì.
    She quickly scanned the document and then signed it.

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.

扫sǎosweep
视shìlook

扫 (sweep) and 视 (look) combine: looking with a sweeping motion.

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 掃; 扫 is its simplified writing.

The form 掃 draws a hand with a broomstick, the thing used for sweeping.

Open 扫 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 視; 视 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
見見jiànsee
Sound part声符shēngfú
示
示shì視shì
Same sound today

The story is about the traditional form 視: it combines 見, meaning see, with 示, which gives the sound shì.

Open 视 →

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