毒死 (dú sǐ) — to kill with poison; to poison to death | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

verb

to kill with poisonto poison to death

Examples

毒死。
Lǎo shǔ bèi dú sǐ le.
The mouse was poisoned to death.
毒死。
Tā shì tú yòng dú yào dú sǐ jìng zhēng duì shǒu.
He tried to poison his competitor to death.
毒死。
Nóng yào kě yǐ dú sǐ hài chóng.
Pesticides can kill pests with poison.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

毒dúpoison

The action 毒 (poison) leads to 死 (death).

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

屮屮chèvegetation

Sound part声符shēngfú

毐

毐ǎi毒dú

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

毒 pairs 屮, a plant part, with 毐 as a sound part; this form was used for a poisonous plant.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

尸

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

死 is built from 歹 and 尸: 歹 is the part tied to the meaning, and 尸 gives the sound.

Appears in

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