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偷渡 (tōu dù) — to illegally cross a border (by hiding or evading inspection); to smuggle oneself into or out of a country

Definition

偷渡 (tōudù) means to illegally cross a national border in hiding, evading immigration checks. Used for both the person crossing and the act of smuggling people across (often by a gang).

verb
to illegally cross a border (by hiding or evading inspection)to smuggle oneself into or out of a country

Examples

  • 偷渡。
    Tā èr shí nián qián cóng yuè nán tōu dù dào le zhōng guó.
    He illegally crossed from Vietnam to China twenty years ago.
  • 偷渡。
    Zhè ge tuán huǒ zhuān mén bāng zhù fēi fǎ yí mín tōu dù.
    This gang specializes in helping illegal immigrants cross borders.
  • 偷渡。
    Tā zài shì tú tōu dù de shí hou bèi biān fáng jǐng chá zhuā zhù le.
    He was caught by border police while trying to illegally cross.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

偷tōusecretly
渡dùcross

偷 names doing something secretly, and 渡 names crossing over.

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
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
俞
俞yú偷tōu
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 亻, a standing person, points to the idea of someone doing the act, while the right part 俞 gives the character its sound.

Open 偷 →

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
度
度dù渡dù
Same sound today

渡 has 氵, water, beside 度, which gives the sound.

Open 渡 →
Appears in
Crime & Police

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