看押 (kān yā) — to detain, to take into custody

Definition

verb

to detainto take into custody

看押。
Jǐng fāng yǐ jiāng xián yí rén kān yā qǐ lái.
The police have already taken the suspect into custody.
看押。
Tā zài kān shǒu suǒ bèi kān yā le sān gè yuè.
He was detained in the detention center for three months.
看押。
Fǎ yuàn jué dìng duì tā shí xíng kān yā.
The court decided to place him in custody.

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.

看kànwatch/guard

押yādetain/escort

看 'watch/guard' and 押 'detain/escort' combine to mean taking someone into custody.

Characters in this word

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

The shape 看 puts 手 (hand) over 目 (eye), showing a hand placed above the eyes to gaze into the distance.

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

扌甲押

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

甲

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

押 pairs 扌, a hand, with 甲, which gives the sound.