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敢死队 (gǎn sǐ duì) — dare-to-die corps; suicide squad (including Japanese WWII Kamikaze)

Definition

A military unit whose members volunteer for the most dangerous, often suicidal, missions. The WWII Japanese Kamikaze pilots are the best-known historical example.

noun
dare-to-die corpssuicide squad (including Japanese WWII Kamikaze)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 敢死队。
    Zhè zhī gǎn sǐ duì zhí xíng le zuì wēi xiǎn de rèn wu.
    This dare-to-die corps carried out the most dangerous mission.
  • ，敢死队。
    Èr zhàn zhōng, rì běn gǎn sǐ duì fēi xíng yuán bèi chēng wéi shén fēng tè gōng duì.
    During WWII, Japanese dare-to-die corps pilots were called Kamikaze.
  • ，敢死队。
    Xiàn dài jūn duì zhōng, gǎn sǐ duì de jué sè yǐ jīng fā shēng le biàn huà.
    In modern armies, the role of dare-to-die corps has changed.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

敢死dare to die
敢gǎndare死sǐdeath
动宾Verb + object
队duìgroup

敢死 suggests daring to die, and 队 is the group itself.

Characters in this word

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

The old form showed a hand using a tool to hunt a wild boar. Later the tool was dropped and another mark was added, and the shape changed into 敢.

Open 敢 →

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
歹歹dǎi
Sound part声符shēngfú
尸
尸shī死sǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

死 is built from 歹 and 尸: 歹 is the part tied to the meaning, and 尸 gives the sound.

Open 死 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 隊; 队 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阜阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
㒸
㒸㒸隊duì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 隊 has 阜 as the meaning part and 㒸 as the sound part.

Open 队 →
Appears in
Military & Defense

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