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杀光 (shā guāng) — to kill all, to massacre, to exterminate

Definition

A resultative verb meaning 'to kill all / every last one' — stronger and more thorough than just 杀 ('to kill'), emphasizing complete extermination of a group.

verb
to kill allto massacreto exterminate

Examples

  • 杀光。
    Dí rén bǎ quán cūn rén dōu shā guāng le.
    The enemy killed all the villagers.
  • 杀光。
    Tā men fā shì yào shā guāng suǒ yǒu de qīn lüè zhě.
    They swore to kill all the invaders.
  • 杀光。
    Zhè chǎng wēn yì jī hū shā guāng le zhěng zuò chéng shì de rén.
    This plague almost killed everyone in the entire city.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

杀shākill
光guāngall; gone

杀 means kill, and 光 completes the idea as all, leaving nothing.

Characters in this word

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 →

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

  • 火火huǒfire
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

The shape 光 places 火 (fire) above 卩 (a kneeling person), showing fire over the head and the shining of light.

Open 光 →
Appears in
Crime & Police

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