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列队 (liè duì) — to form ranks, to line up (people in formation)

Definition

A formal/collective verb for lining people up in formation (soldiers, athletes, students). More orderly and group-oriented than the everyday 排队, which just means people queuing up one by one.

verb
to form ranksto line up (people in formation)

Examples

  • 。
    Shì bīng men zài cāo chǎng shàng liè duì.
    The soldiers are lining up on the drill ground.
  • 。
    Yùn dòng yuán men liè hǎo duì děng dài bǐ sài kāi shǐ.
    The athletes formed a line and waited for the game to start.
  • 。
    Qǐng quán tǐ xué shēng liè chéng sì duì.
    All students please form four lines.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

列lièarrange
队duìformation

列 means arrange in ranks and 队 means formation, together describing lining up.

Characters in this word

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

列 combines 歹, drawn as skeletal remains, and 刀, a knife, to depict tearing apart.

Open 列 →

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 →
Appears in
Order & Arrangement

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