躲闪 (duǒ shǎn) — to dodge, to evade (physically or verbally)

Definition

verb
to dodgeto evade (physically or verbally)

Examples

  • 躲闪。
    Tā mǐn jié de duǒ shǎn kāi le fēi lái de qiú.
    He agilely dodged the flying ball.
  • ，躲闪。
    Miàn duì jì zhě de zhuī wèn, tā shǐ zhōng duǒ shǎn huí bì.
    Facing the journalist's persistent questioning, he kept evading and dodging.
  • ，躲闪。
    Tā shēn tǐ wēi wēi yí cè, duǒ shǎn le guò qù.
    She slightly turned her body sideways and dodged past.

Origin

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.

躲duǒavoid
闪shǎndodge

躲 and 闪 both express avoiding; together they intensify dodging or evading.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
身身shēnbody
Sound part声符shēngfú
朵
朵duǒ躲duǒ
Same sound today

躲 uses 身 to show a body and 朵 to give the sound; 朵 is also noted as "to move".

Open 躲 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 閃; 闪 is its simplified writing.

In the traditional 閃, 人 (person) appears inside 門 (gate), showing a person running through a gate. The simplified 闪 is a later shorthand.

Open 闪 →

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