Definition
毒 (dú) means 'poison' (noun) and 'to poison' (verb); as an adjective, it describes malicious, cruel speech or behavior. It differs from 惨 (cǎn) 'tragic, miserable' in emphasizing deliberate spite, and from 酷 (kù) which is a loanword for 'cool' or 'ruthless'. In informal contexts, 毒 can refer to narcotics, while 毒品 (dúpǐn) is the standard term for illegal drugs.
noun
poisonalso refers to narcotics (毒品)
verb
to poison
adjective
maliciouscruelfierce
Easily confused
- 每měilook-alikeeach; every
- 读dúsound-aliketo read
- 表biǎolook-alike(noun) a form, table, or chart
- 度dùsound-alike(verb) to spend (time), to pass (time)
- 青qīnglook-alikegreen (color)
- 赌dǔsound-aliketo gamble, to bet
- 堵dǔsound-alike(verb) to block up, to jam, to stop up
- 独dúsound-alikealone; by oneself
- 渡dùsound-aliketo cross (a river, sea, etc.)
Examples
- 毒，。Zhè zhǒng dú fēicháng wēixiǎn, qiānwàn bú yào pèng.This poison is very dangerous — never touch it.
- 。Yǒurén xiǎng yòng dú yào dú sǐ nà zhī lǎoshǔ.Someone tried to poison that mouse with poison.
- 毒，。Tā shuōhuà tài dú le, méi rén xǐhuan tā.He speaks too maliciously; no one likes him.
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