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掠夺 (lüè duó) — to plunder, to rob

Definition

掠夺 emphasizes taking the wealth or resources of a people or land on a large scale, often historically. Stronger and broader than 抢劫 (robbing a person/place) and 抢夺 (seizing by force).

verb
to plunderto rob

Examples

  • 掠夺。
    Tā men lüè duó le dāng dì rén de tǔ dì.
    They plundered the local people's land.
  • 掠夺。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī lüè duó le zì rán zī yuán de lì yì.
    This company plundered the benefits of natural resources.
  • 掠夺。
    Lì shǐ shàng xǔ duō guó jiā dōu céng lüè duó guò qí tā mín zú de cái fù.
    In history, many countries have plundered the wealth of other nations.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

掠lüèplunder
夺duóseize

掠 and 夺 both mean taking by force, so together they intensify the idea of plundering.

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shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
京
京jīng掠lüè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

掠 pairs 手, showing action by the hand, with 京, which gives the sound.

Open 掠 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 奪; 夺 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 奪 includes 又 (a hand), 雀 (a bird), and 衣 (clothing), showing a hand seizing a bird from someone; the simplified 夺 is a later abbreviation.

Open 夺 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Crime & Police

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