抽调 (chōu diào) — to transfer or reassign (personnel or materials) to another post or location

Definition

抽调 (chōudiào) means to temporarily pull personnel or supplies from one place and reassign them to another — a formal, organizational term, often used for urgent, official transfers (e.g., disaster relief, project staffing).

verb
to transfer or reassign (personnel or materials) to another post or location

Examples

  • 抽调。
    Gōng sī cóng gè gè bù mén chōu diào le yì xiē jì shù gǔ gàn.
    The company transferred some key technical personnel from various departments.
  • ，抽调。
    Wèi le zhī yuán zāi qū, zhèng fǔ jǐn jí chōu diào le dà liàng wù zī.
    To support the disaster area, the government urgently transferred a large amount of supplies.
  • 抽调。
    Tā bèi chōu diào dào fēn gōng sī dān rèn jīng lǐ.
    He was transferred to the branch company to serve as manager.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

抽chōudraw out
调tiáotransfer

抽 means to draw out, and 调 means to transfer or reassign; together they describe moving people or materials.

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
由
由yóu抽chōu
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 扌 is the hand form, written in full as 手, and the right part 由 provides the sound.

Open 抽 →

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 調; 调 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
周
周zhōu調tiáo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 調 pairs 言 (speech) with 周, which shows how it was pronounced. The simplified 调 is a later shorthand.

Open 调 →

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