拾掇 (shí duō) — to tidy up, to put in order; to repair, to fix; (colloquial) to punish, to deal with (someone)

Definition

Colloquial verb with three flavors: tidying/repairing things, or (in 把他∼一下) giving someone a hard time — a casual all-purpose 'sort out' word, not used in formal writing.

verb
to tidy upto put in orderto repairto fix(colloquial) to punishto deal with (someone)

Examples

  • 拾掇。
    Zhōu mò wǒ yào bǎ fáng jiān hǎo hǎo shí duō yí xià.
    I'm going to tidy up my room well this weekend.
  • 拾掇。
    Zhè tái jiù shōu yīn jī hái néng shí duō hǎo.
    This old radio can still be fixed.
  • ，拾掇。
    Tā yào shi zài dǎo luàn, nǐ jiù hěn hěn dì shí duō tā.
    If he causes trouble again, you give him a good talking-to.

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.

拾shípick up
掇duōgather

The near-synonyms 拾, to pick up, and 掇, to gather or arrange, together express tidying or fixing.

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
合
合hé拾shí
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

拾 uses 扌 for hand and 合 for sound; the whole character means to pick up by hand.

Open 拾 →

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
叕
叕zhuó掇duō
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

掇 pairs 手, a hand, with 叕, which gives the sound.

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