打垮 (dǎ kuǎ) — to rout; to defeat thoroughly | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A result verb meaning 'to rout / defeat thoroughly' — focuses on the opponent being completely broken, stronger than just 打败 ('to beat').

verb

to routto defeat thoroughly

Examples

打垮。
Wǒ jūn dǎ kuǎ le rù qīn de dí rén.
Our army routed the invading enemy.
打垮。
Zhè jiā gōng sī dǎ kuǎ le suǒ yǒu jìng zhēng duì shǒu.
This company defeated all its competitors.
打垮，。
Tā dǎ kuǎ le shì jiè guàn jūn, yíng dé le bǐ sài.
He beat the world champion and won the match.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

打dǎstrike

垮kuǎcollapse

打 means to strike, and 垮 means to collapse; together they express beating something until it breaks down.

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.

扌丁打

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

丁

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

打 uses 扌, a hand, to show an action done with the hand, and 丁 to give the sound.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in

Conflict & Agreement

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