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搞垮 (gǎo kuǎ) — to cause (something) to collapse or fail; to ruin

Definition

A colloquial verb meaning 'to bring down' (a company, person, health) — to cause something to collapse or fail through damage or pressure. Stronger than 破坏, with a sense of total ruin rather than partial harm.

verb
to cause (something) to collapse or failto ruin

Examples

  • ，搞垮。
    Tā yīn wèi jīng yíng bú shàn, zuì zhōng gǎo kuǎ le gōng sī.
    He mismanaged it and eventually brought the company to ruin.
  • 搞垮。
    Cháng qī yā lì huì gǎo kuǎ nǐ de shēn tǐ.
    Long-term stress will ruin your health.
  • 搞垮。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī chà diǎn bèi jìng zhēng duì shǒu gǎo kuǎ.
    This company was almost brought down by its competitors.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

搞gǎodo or make
垮kuǎcollapse

搞 means to do or make, and 垮 means to collapse, so the combined sense is to make something collapse.

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
高
高gāo搞gǎo
Same sound today

搞 has 扌, a hand, on the left and 高 on the right; the 高 part gives the sound.

Open 搞 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 垮 →
Appears in
Success & Failure

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