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搜救 (sōu jiù) — to search for and rescue (someone); search and rescue (operations)

Definition

搜救 combines searching and rescuing in one action — a coordinated operation (搜救队, 搜救行动). It is more procedural than 救援 (rescue only) and 营救 (rescue a person); 搜 covers search alone.

verb
to search for and rescue (someone)search and rescue (operations)

Examples

  • 搜救。
    Tā men zhèng zài hǎi shàng sōu jiù shī zōng de yú mín.
    They are searching for and rescuing the missing fishermen at sea.
  • ，搜救。
    Dì zhèn hòu, sōu jiù duì hěn kuài jiù gǎn dào le xiàn chǎng.
    After the earthquake, the search and rescue team quickly arrived at the scene.
  • 搜救。
    Zhè cì sōu jiù xíng dòng yòng le liǎng tiān shí jiān cái jié shù.
    This search and rescue operation took two days to finish.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

搜sōusearch
救jiùrescue

'搜' and '救' are parallel actions, searching and rescuing, giving the phrase search and rescue.

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
叟
叟sǒu搜sōu
Same sound today

The left 扌 is a hand. The right 叟 gives the sound and originally pictured a hand holding a torch indoors, related to searching.

Open 搜 →

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
攴攴pū
Sound part声符shēngfú
求
求qiú救jiù
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 救, 求 gives the sound, and 攴 is the action part.

Open 救 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Safety & Danger

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.