捕杀 (bǔ shā) — to catch and kill (animals, fish, etc.); to hunt and kill

Definition

verb
to catch and kill (animals, fish, etc.)to hunt and kill

Examples

  • 捕杀。
    Tā men měi nián dōu bǔ shā dà liàng de yě shēng dòng wù.
    They catch and kill a large number of wild animals every year.
  • 捕杀。
    Fēi fǎ bǔ shā bīn wēi dòng wù shì wéi fǎ de.
    Illegally catching and killing endangered animals is against the law.
  • 捕杀。
    Zhè piàn hǎi yù jìn zhǐ bǔ shā yú lèi.
    Fishing is prohibited in these waters.

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.

捕bǔcatch
杀shākill

捕 'catch' and 杀 'kill' combine as parallel actions to mean catch and kill.

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
甫
甫fǔ捕bǔ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

捕 uses 扌 (a hand, from 手) to show catching, and 甫 for the sound.

Open 捕 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 殺; 杀 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 殺 comes from an old drawing of a boar impaled in the head, with 人 and 又 added to show a person doing the killing; the simplified 杀 is a later abbreviation.

Open 杀 →

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