拖垮 (tuō kuǎ) — to wear down, to exhaust, to cause to collapse (from prolonged strain or pressure)

Definition

A vivid verb meaning to 'drag down to collapse' — prolonged strain (work, pressure, crisis) wears someone or something out until it breaks.

verb
to wear downto exhaustto cause to collapse (from prolonged strain or pressure)

Examples

  • 拖垮。
    Cháng qī jiā bān zhōng yú tuō kuǎ le tā de shēn tǐ.
    Long-term overtime finally wore down his health.
  • 拖垮。
    Zhè chǎng jīng jì wēi jī tuō kuǎ le bù shǎo zhōng xiǎo qǐ yè.
    This economic crisis brought down many small and medium enterprises.
  • 拖垮，。
    Bié ràng gōng zuò yā lì tuō kuǎ nǐ, yào xué huì fàng sōng.
    Don't let work pressure wear you down; learn to relax.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

拖tuōdrag
垮kuǎcollapse

拖 with 垮 as the result gives being worn down.

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
手手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
它
它tā拖tuō
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

拖 uses 手 to show an action done with the hand, and 它 to give its sound.

Open 拖 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 垮 →

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