挽留 (wǎn liú) — to urge (someone) to stay, to try to keep (some… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

挽留 (wǎnliú) means to urge someone to stay or not leave — often against their will. Implies a polite or earnest attempt, as in trying to keep a person, a customer, or an employee from departing.

verb

to urge (someone) to stayto try to keep (someone) from leaving

Examples

，挽留。
Tā zhí yì yào zǒu, wǒ men zěn me wǎn liú dōu méi yòng.
He insisted on leaving; no matter how we tried to urge him to stay, it was useless.
挽留。
Lǐng dǎo qīn zì wǎn liú zhè wèi guān jiàn yuán gōng.
The leader personally urged this key employee to stay.
挽留，。
Jǐn guǎn dà jiā yí zài wǎn liú, tā hái shì jué dìng cí zhí.
Although everyone repeatedly urged her to stay, she still decided to resign.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

挽wǎnpull back

挽 suggests pulling someone back, and 留 means keeping them, expressing urging someone to stay.

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.

扌免挽

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

免

免miǎn挽wǎn

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

In 挽, the left part 扌 is a hand symbol, showing an action done with the hand. The right part 免 supplies the sound.

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

田田tiánfield

Sound part声符shēngfú

卯

卯mǎo留liú

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

留 combines 田 (field) with 卯, which gives the sound.

Appears in

Communication & Speech

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