打掩护 (dǎ yǎn hù) — to provide cover for; to shield; to act as a de… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

打掩护 means to provide cover or shield someone (originally military), now also used for shielding a person from blame or scrutiny. The verb 打 here is light and idiomatic — 打掩护 behaves as a set phrase, not 打 + 掩护 as separate actions.

verb

to provide cover forto shieldto act as a decoy

Examples

打掩护，。
Tā fù zé dǎ yǎn hù, ràng wǒ men ān quán chè lí.
He was responsible for providing cover so we could evacuate safely.
。
Zhè cì xíng dòng wǒ men dǎ le yí cì wán měi de yǎn hù.
In this operation, we provided perfect cover once.
打掩护，。
Bié bāng tā dǎ yǎn hù le, tā zuò cuò le jiù shì zuò cuò le.
Stop covering for him — if he did wrong, he did wrong.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

掩护cover

掩yǎncover护hùprotect

联合Coordinate

打 (do) and 掩护 (cover/protect) express providing cover for someone.

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.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

扌奄掩

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

奄

奄yǎn掩yǎn

Same sound today

The left part 扌 is a hand; the right part 奄 gives the character its sound.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

扌户护

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

户

户hù护hù

Same sound today

护 combines 扌 (the hand form 手) with 户, which gives the sound hù.

Appears in

Military & Defense

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