刑警队 (xíng jǐng duì) — criminal investigation squad, criminal police unit

Definition

The dedicated police unit that handles criminal investigations — focus on serious crimes and case work, not general patrol or traffic duties.

noun
criminal investigation squadcriminal police unit
Measure word · 支

Examples

  • 刑警队。
    xíng jǐng duì Zhèng zài diào chá zhè qǐ dào qiè àn.
    The criminal investigation squad is investigating this theft case.
  • 刑警队，。
    Tā jiā rù le xíng jǐng duì, fù zé zhòng dà àn jiàn.
    He joined the criminal police squad and is responsible for major cases.
  • 刑警队。
    xíng jǐng duì De jǐng yuán dōu shòu guò zhuān yè xùn liàn.
    All officers in the criminal investigation squad have received professional training.

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.

刑警
刑xíngcriminal警jǐngpolice
偏正Modifier + head
队duìsquad

刑 relates to criminal cases, 警 to police, and 队 to a squad, so it is a police squad for criminal cases.

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
刀刀dāo
Sound part声符shēngfú
井
井jǐng刑xíng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

刑 puts 刀 (knife) beside 井. The knife part shows the punishment idea, and 井 gives the sound.

Open 刑 →

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
言言yánspoken language, speech
Sound part声符shēngfú
敬
敬jìng警
Same sound today

警 places 言 (speech) below 敬; 敬 gives the sound.

Open 警 →

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 隊; 队 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阜阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
㒸
㒸㒸隊duì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 隊 has 阜 as the meaning part and 㒸 as the sound part.

Open 队 →

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