赶下台 (gǎn xià tāi) — to oust, to force out of a position of power or office; to overthrow

Definition

A 离合词 (separable verb) meaning 'to oust / force out of a position of power.' The two halves separate: 把总统赶下台 (oust the president); 着重点在下台, the act of toppling from office.

verb
to oust, to force out of a position of power or officeto overthrow

Examples

  • 赶下台。
    Rén mín zhōng yú bǎ fǔ bài de zhèng fǔ gǎn xià tāi le.
    The people finally overthrew the corrupt government.
  • 赶下台。
    Zhè cì zhèng biàn chéng gōng dì jiāng zǒng tǒng gǎn xià tāi.
    This coup successfully ousted the president.
  • 赶下台。
    Gōng sī dǒng shì huì bèi gǔ dōng men gǎn xià tāi.
    The company's board of directors was ousted by the shareholders.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

赶gǎndrive
下台step down
下xiàleave台táiplatform
动宾Verb + object

赶 drives someone away, making them 下台 from the 台 of power.

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 趕; 赶 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
走走zǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
旱
旱hàn趕gǎn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 趕 combines 走, for the meaning, and 旱, for the sound; this is about 趕, not 赶.

Open 赶 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

下 is drawn as a short horizontal line below a long curved line.

Open 下 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 臺; 台 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 台 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (窗台, 电视台) it is 臺; in others (台灯, 台球) (台风) it is 檯 or 台 or 颱.

The traditional form 臺 is the 喬 + 室 form; earlier versions combined a sound part with 室, and an old reading saw it as a watch tower.

Open 台 →

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