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招来 (zhāo lái) — to attract (often trouble or criticism); to incur; to court

Definition

招来 (zhāo lái) means 'to attract, incur, or invite' — usually with a negative result like trouble or criticism. Note that 招 is the same character as in 招聘 (recruit) but here it means to draw something to yourself.

verb
to attract (often trouble or criticism)to incurto court

Examples

  • 招来。
    Tā de bú dàng yán lùn zhāo lái le gōng zhòng de pī píng.
    His inappropriate remarks incurred public criticism.
  • 招来。
    Zhè jiā xīn diàn yòng dī jià zhāo lái le dà liàng gù kè.
    This new store attracted a large number of customers with low prices.
  • 招来。
    Zuò shì bù jǐn shèn zhī huì zhāo lái má fan.
    Being careless will only invite trouble.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

招zhāoattract
来láicome

招 means attract and 来 adds the coming-in result, so 招来 means to draw trouble or criticism toward oneself.

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
召
召zhào招zhāo
Same sound today

招 pairs 扌, the hand part, with 召, which gives the sound, to show beckoning with the hand.

Open 招 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 來; 来 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 來 shows a wheat plant: a central ear, upward leaves, and downward stem and roots. The simplified 来 is a later shorthand.

Open 来 →
Appears in
Cause, Effect & Logic

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