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嫖娼 (piáo chāng) — (verb-object) to visit prostitutes, to engage in prostitution (of the client)

Definition

嫖娼 (piáo chāng) is a formal verb-object term meaning 'to visit prostitutes' — used in legal and official contexts (laws, news, police reports), not in casual speech. It refers to the client's side of prostitution.

verb
(verb-object) to visit prostitutesto engage in prostitution (of the client)

Examples

  • 嫖娼。
    Tā yīn wèi piáo chāng bèi jǐng chá zhuā le.
    He was caught by the police for visiting prostitutes.
  • ，。
    Tā qù nián piáo guò jǐ cì chāng, hòu lái jiù bú qù le.
    He visited prostitutes a few times last year, then stopped.
  • 嫖娼。
    Fǎ lǜ jìn zhǐ piáo chāng.
    The law prohibits visiting prostitutes.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

嫖piáovisit prostitutes
娼chāngprostitute

嫖 means to visit prostitutes and 娼 means prostitute, so together they mean visiting prostitutes.

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
女女nǚ
Sound part声符shēngfú
票
票piào嫖piáo
Same sound today

嫖 pairs 女, a woman, with 票, which shows the sound.

Open 嫖 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 娼 →
Appears in
Crime & Police

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