拆伙 (chāi huǒ) — to dissolve a partnership, to part company (of a business or team)

Definition

Colloquial verb meaning to break up a business or team partnership. A separable verb: insert 了/过 between 拆 and 伙 (拆了伙, 拆过两次伙).

verb
to dissolve a partnershipto part company (of a business or team)

Examples

  • ，拆伙。
    Tā men hé zuò le sān nián, qù nián chāi huǒ le.
    They worked together for three years and dissolved the partnership last year.
  • ，。
    Gōng sī jīng yíng bú shàn, hé huǒ rén jué dìng chāi le huǒ.
    The company was poorly managed, so the partners decided to dissolve the partnership.
  • ，。
    Tā men chāi guò liǎng cì huǒ, hòu lái yòu chóng xīn hé zuò le.
    They've dissolved the partnership twice before, and later cooperated again.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

拆chāitake apart
伙huǒpartnership

拆 means take apart and 伙 means partnership, together describing parting company.

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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
斥
斥chì拆chāi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

拆 uses 手 to show an action done by hand, with 斥 giving the sound. In an earlier related form, the hand part replaced an earth part to stress the action by hand.

Open 拆 →

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 夥; 伙 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 伙 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (大伙儿, 伙) it is 夥; in others (小伙子) it is 伙.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
多多duō
Sound part声符shēngfú
果
果guǒ夥huǒ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 夥 combines 多 (many) with 果 as a sound part. The simplified 伙 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 伙 →

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