扼杀 (è shā) — to kill by strangling, to throttle; to suppress or smother (an idea, freedom, etc.)

Definition

A formal, written verb meaning 'to strangle / to smother.' Most often used figuratively for crushing ideas, rights, or plans in their early stages.

verb
to kill by stranglingto throttleto suppress or smother (an idea, freedom, etc.)

Examples

  • 扼杀。
    Zhè zhǒng shěn chá zhì dù huì è shā yán lùn zì yóu.
    This kind of censorship will stifle freedom of speech.
  • 扼杀。
    Tā shì tú zài méng yá jiē duàn è shā nà ge jì huà.
    He tried to strangle that plan in its infancy.
  • 扼杀。
    Zhàn zhēng è shā le wú shù wú gū de shēng mìng.
    War has snuffed out countless innocent lives.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

扼èstrangle or grip
杀shākill

「扼」 gives strangling or gripping, and 「杀」 gives killing.

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
厄
厄è扼è
Same sound today

The left side is 扌, a hand; the right side is 厄, which gives the sound.

Open 扼 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 殺; 杀 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 殺 comes from an old drawing of a boar impaled in the head, with 人 and 又 added to show a person doing the killing; the simplified 杀 is a later abbreviation.

Open 杀 →

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