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收买 (shōu mǎi) — to purchase (valuable or bulk items); to bribe (with money or favors to corrupt)

Definition

收买 (shōumǎi) has two distinct senses: ‘to purchase/buy up’ (bulk or valuable items, more literary than 购买 or 买) and ‘to bribe/buy off’ someone. For bribery, 贿赂 is the neutral noun; 收买 emphasizes winning someone over.

verb
to purchase (valuable or bulk items)to bribe (with money or favors to corrupt)

Examples

  • 收买。
    Tā tōng guò pāi mài shì chǎng shōu mǎi le nà fú zhēn guì de yóu huà.
    He purchased that precious oil painting through the auction market.
  • ，收买。
    Wèi le yíng dé bǐ sài, tā men shì tú yòng qián shōu mǎi cái pàn.
    To win the match, they tried to bribe the referee with money.
  • 收买。
    Tā shōu mǎi le xǔ duō gǔ jí lái kuò chōng tú shū guǎn de guǎn cáng.
    He purchased many ancient books to expand the library‘s collection.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

收shōugather
买mǎibuy

收 denotes gathering and 买 denotes buying, giving the sense of acquiring goods or loyalty.

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
攴攴pū
Sound part声符shēngfú
丩
丩jiū收shōu
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

收 uses 攴 to show an action and 丩 as a sound clue; the old meaning was 'to arrest.'

Open 收 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 買; 买 is its simplified writing.

In the traditional form 買, 网 is a net and 貝 is a money cowrie.

Open 买 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Crime & Police

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