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捣毁 (dǎo huǐ) — to deliberately destroy or sabotage (e.g., a base, a den, a facility)

Definition

verb
to deliberately destroy or sabotage (e.g., a base, a den, a facility)

Examples

  • 。
    Jǐng fāng chéng gōng dǎo huǐ le yí gè fēi fǎ jiā gōng chǎng.
    The police successfully destroyed an illegal processing plant.
  • 。
    Zhàn shì men dǎo huǐ le dí rén de yíng dì.
    The soldiers destroyed the enemy's camp.
  • 。
    Tā men dǎo huǐ le suǒ yǒu de fàn zuì zhèng jù.
    They destroyed all the criminal evidence.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

捣dǎosmash
毁huǐruined

捣 means to smash, and 毁 means ruined, so the action smashes something until it is destroyed.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 搗; 捣 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
島
島dǎo搗dǎo
Same sound today

The traditional form 搗 pairs 手 (hand) with 島 as a sound part; the simplified 捣 is a shorthand, so its right side is not the original sound part.

Open 捣 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 毀; 毁 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 毀 combines 臼 (cracked skull), 工 (tool), and 殳 (hand action) as a man being hit in the head; this explanation is about 毀, not the simplified 毁.

Open 毁 →
Appears in
Conflict & AgreementCrime & Police

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