窃听器 (qiè tīng qì) — listening device; bug

Definition

noun

listening devicebug

Measure word · 个

窃听器。
Tā zài fáng jiān lǐ ān zhuāng le yí gè qiè tīng qì.
He installed a bug in the room.
窃听器。
Jǐng chá zài bàn gōng shì fā xiàn le liǎng gè qiè tīng qì.
The police found two listening devices in the office.
窃听器，。
Zhè zhǒng qiè tīng qì tǐ jī hěn xiǎo, hěn nán bèi fā xiàn.
This type of bug is very small and hard to be detected.

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.

窃听secretly listen

偏正Modifier + head

窃听 (secretly listen) describes the 器 (device).

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 竊; 窃 is its simplified writing.

For 窃, the traditional form 竊 combines 米 and 攴 with 禼, which gives the sound.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 聽; 听 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 聽 has 耳 (ear) and 口 (mouth), used for listening; the simplified 听 is a later shortened form unrelated to that picture.

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

The origin of 器 is uncertain; one traditional account reads the whole shape as a scene of guarding over four vessels.

Appears in