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包庇 (bāo bì) — to shield; to cover up (someone's wrongdoing)

Definition

包庇 (bāobì) specifically means shielding a wrongdoer to protect them from consequences. Unlike 掩护 (which can be neutral cover) or 隐藏 (hiding something), 包庇 implies knowingly helping someone evade blame or punishment.

verb
to shieldto cover up (someone's wrongdoing)

Examples

  • 包庇。
    Tā yīn wèi bāo bì zuì fàn ér shòu dào le fǎ lǜ de zhì cái.
    He was punished by law for shielding a criminal.
  • 包庇。
    Gōng sī jué bù yǔn xǔ rèn hé rén bāo bì cuò wù xíng wéi.
    The company absolutely does not allow anyone to cover up misconduct.
  • 包庇。
    Zhè zhǒng bāo bì xíng wéi shì bú dào dé de.
    This kind of shielding behavior is immoral.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

包bāocover
庇bìshelter

包 means to cover, and 庇 means to shelter; together they describe shielding wrongdoing.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 包 pictures a fetus in a womb, or a baby wrapped in cloth.

Open 包 →

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
广广guǎnghouse that is built to depend on a cliff
Sound part声符shēngfú
比
比bǐ庇bì
Same sound today

庇 shows 广, a house built to depend on a cliff, alongside 比, which gives its sound.

Open 庇 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Crime & Police

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