肃清 (sù qīng) — to eliminate, root out, purge (undesirable elements, influences, or remnants)

Definition

Formal verb for thoroughly 'eliminating / purging' undesirable elements (corruption, enemies, bad tendencies). Stronger and more deliberate than 消除 — implies wiping something out completely.

verb
to eliminateroot outpurge (undesirable elements, influences, or remnants)

Examples

  • 肃清。
    Zhèng fǔ jué xīn sù qīng fǔ bài xiàn xiàng.
    The government is determined to eliminate corruption.
  • 肃清。
    Jūn duì huā le sān gè yuè sù qīng cán dí.
    The army spent three months mopping up remaining enemies.
  • 肃清。
    Wǒ men bì xū sù qīng zhè xiē bù liáng fēng qì.
    We must eradicate these unhealthy trends.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

肃sùpurge
清qīngclear

肃 means to purge and 清 means to clear; together they describe purging something until it is clean.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 肅; 肃 is its simplified writing.

  • 𦘒𦘒𦘒
  • 𣶒𣶒𣶒

The traditional form 肅 is made of 𦘒 and 𣶒, whose picture is unclear; one old explanation sees a person sweeping or walking with a staff near an abyss, trembling in fear. The simplified 肃 is a later shorthand.

Open 肃 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
青
青qīng清qīng
Same sound today

清 has 氵 (water) on the left and 青 on the right to show its sound.

Open 清 →

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