拐卖 (guǎi mài) — to abduct and traffic (people), especially women or children for forced labor or marriage

Definition

Transitive verb meaning 'to abduct and traffic (people).' 拐 alone means 'to kidnap / turn (a corner)'; the compound 拐卖 specifically refers to the crime of abducting and selling women or children.

verb
to abduct and traffic (people), especially women or children for forced labor or marriage

Examples

  • 拐卖。
    Jǐng fāng pò huò le yì qǐ guǎi mài ér tóng de àn jiàn.
    The police cracked a case of child trafficking.
  • 拐卖。
    Tā bèi rén fàn zi guǎi mài dào le piān yuǎn shān qū.
    She was trafficked by human smugglers to a remote mountain area.
  • 拐卖。
    Zhōng guó zhèng fǔ yán lì dǎ jī guǎi mài fù nǚ de fàn zuì xíng wéi.
    The Chinese government severely cracks down on the crime of trafficking women.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

拐guǎiabduct
卖màisell

拐 (abduct) and 卖 (sell) combine to mean taking people away and trafficking them.

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

拐 pairs 扌, a hand radical written in full as 手, with 冎, which provides the sound guǎ.

Open 拐 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 賣; 卖 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 賣 came from an older shape that joined 出 (go out) with 買 (buy), which gives the sound. The simplified 卖 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical ones.

Open 卖 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.