TongTong
Sign in

下海 (xià hǎi) — (literal) to put out to sea; to go to sea; (figurative, historical) to leave a state-sector job and start a private business; to venture into the market economy

Definition

下海 is a two-character verb with a vivid metaphor: literally 'go to sea', but figuratively used since the 1990s for leaving a secure state-sector job to start a private business. The literal sense applies to fishing or sailing.

verb
(literal) to put out to seato go to sea(figurative, historical) to leave a state-sector job and start a private businessto venture into the market economy

Examples

  • 下海。
    Yú mín men yí dà zǎo jiù xià hǎi bǔ yú qù le.
    The fishermen went out to sea early in the morning to fish.
  • ，下海。
    Jiǔ shí nián dài, hěn duō rén xuǎn zé xià hǎi jīng shāng.
    In the 1990s, many people chose to go into business.
  • ，。
    Tā xià le hǎi yǐ hòu, shōu rù zēng jiā le hěn duō.
    After he went into business, his income increased a lot.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

下xiàgo down or enter
海hǎisea

下 gives go down or enter and 海 gives sea, so the basic sense is to go to sea.

Characters in this word

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 →

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

海 pairs 氵 (water) with 每, which gives the sound. The 氵 side shows it is about water.

Open 海 →
Appears in
Business & Commerce

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.