打手 (dǎ shou) — hired thug, enforcer | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

hired thugenforcer

Measure word · 个

打手，。
Tā shì gè zhí yè dǎ shou, zhuān mén tì lǎo bǎn jiě jué má fan.
He is a professional thug, specifically hired by the boss to deal with problems.
打手。
Nà xiē dǎ shou bèi jǐng chá zhuā zǒu le.
Those thugs were arrested by the police.
打手。
Gōng sī gù le jǐ gè dǎ shou kān mén.
The company hired a few thugs to guard the door.

Derived word

构词法gòucífǎ

后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

“打” gives the sense of striking, while “手” gives the sense of a person, together meaning a hired thug.

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.

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.

Appears in