牺牲品 (xī shēng pǐn) — victim; prey; scapegoat; sacrificial lamb; (bus… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A person or thing that suffers harm for someone else's benefit — 'victim' or 'scapegoat.' Unlike 受害者 (passive harm), 牺牲品 implies being used or sacrificed, often willingly or structurally, by others.

noun

victimpreyscapegoatsacrificial lamb(business) loss leader

Measure word · 个

Examples

，牺牲品。
Zài zhè chǎng zhàn zhēng zhōng, píng mín chéng le zuì dà de xī shēng pǐn.
In this war, civilians became the greatest victims.
，牺牲品。
Gōng sī chū le wèn tí, tā què bèi dàng chéng xī shēng pǐn kāi chú le.
When the company had problems, he was made the scapegoat and fired.
牺牲品，。
Zhè kuǎn shāng pǐn shì shāng chǎng de xī shēng pǐn, jià gé dī dào jī hū bú zhuàn qián.
This product is the store's loss leader, priced so low it barely makes money.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

牺牲sacrifice

牺xīsacrificial animal牲shēnganimal/livestock

联合Coordinate

牺牲 (sacrifice) and 品 (item) give a thing sacrificed, such as a victim.

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 犧; 牺 is its simplified writing.

牛羲犧

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

羲

羲xī犧xī

Same sound today

The traditional form 犧 pairs 牛 (ox) with 羲 as its sound part.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

牛生牲

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

生

生shēng牲shēng

Same sound today

牲 pairs 牛, meaning cow, with 生 as its sound part.

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

品 repeats the same simple shape three times, representing various objects.

Appears in

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