抽身 (chōu shēn) — to extricate oneself (from a situation); to get…

Definition

抽身 means to pull yourself free from work or obligations so you can leave. A separable verb: insert 得出/不出 between 抽 and 身 (抽得出身 / 抽不出身).

verb

to extricate oneself (from a situation)to get away (from work/responsibility)

，。
Tā tài máng le, yì zhí chōu bù chū shēn lái.
He's too busy; he's never been able to get away.
抽身。
Wǒ xiǎng qǐng jià chōu shēn qù cān jiā hái zi de bì yè diǎn lǐ.
I want to take leave and get away to attend my child's graduation ceremony.
，抽身。
Zhè ge xiàng mù jié shù hòu, tā zhōng yú kě yǐ chōu shēn xiū xi le.
After this project ended, he could finally get away and rest.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

身shēnbody/self

抽身 joins 抽 (to pull out) and 身 (body/self), meaning to pull oneself out.

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.

扌由抽

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

由

由yóu抽chōu

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

The left part 扌 is the hand form, written in full as 手, and the right part 由 provides the sound.

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

The shape of 身 comes from a drawing of a pregnant woman.