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手底下 (shǒu dǐ xià) — under someone's command or subordination; one's skill, method, or way of doing things

Definition

手底下 (shǒu dǐxia) means 'under someone's authority' (the people one manages) and, by extension, one's personal skill or method.

noun
under someone's command or subordinationone's skillmethodor way of doing things

Examples

  • 手底下。
    Tā zài jīng lǐ shǒu dǐ xià gōng zuò.
    He works under the manager.
  • 手底下。
    Tā shǒu dǐ xià de gōng fu hěn hǎo.
    His skill is very good.
  • 手底下，。
    shǒu dǐ xià Jiàn zhēn zhāng, wǒ men bǐ sài ba.
    Real skill shows in action, let's compete.

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.

手shǒuhand
底下below
底dǐbottom下xiàunder
联合Coordinate

手 is the hand, and 底 下 mark what lies below it, hence subordinates or one's methods.

Characters in this word

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Open 手 →

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guǎngbuilding
Sound part声符shēngfú
氐
氐dī底dǐ
Same sound today

底 pairs 广 (building) with 氐, pointing to the bottom or foundation of a building. Some read 氐 as a bowing figure or tree root, adding a sense of 'down'.

Open 底 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

下 is drawn as a short horizontal line below a long curved line.

Open 下 →
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