伙同 (huó tóng) — to collude with, to be in league with

Definition

伙同 is a formal verb meaning 'to collude with / act in league with,' used for joint wrongdoing, often in legal or written contexts. It takes another party as a coordinated object, not a victim.

verb
to collude withto be in league with

Examples

  • 伙同。
    Tā men huó tóng yí gè dà gōng sī zuò fēi fǎ shēng yì.
    They colluded with a big company to do illegal business.
  • 伙同。
    Zhè ge tuán huǒ huó tóng wài rén tōu zǒu le zhòng yào zī liào.
    This gang colluded with outsiders to steal important documents.
  • 伙同。
    Tā bèi fā xiàn huó tóng jǐ gè tóng shì piàn zǒu le gōng sī de qián.
    He was discovered to have colluded with several colleagues to swindle the company's money.

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.

伙huǒassociate
同tóngtogether

伙 and 同 both carry the sense of acting together, meaning to collude with someone.

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 夥; 伙 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 伙 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (大伙儿, 伙) it is 夥; in others (小伙子) it is 伙.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
多多duō
Sound part声符shēngfú
果
果guǒ夥huǒ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 夥 combines 多 (many) with 果 as a sound part. The simplified 伙 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 伙 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

同 originally drew a pipe. It is the old form of 筒.

Open 同 →

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