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毒害 (dú hài) — to poison (someone) (literal); to poison (someone's mind), to corrupt (figurative)

Definition

Used mostly in the figurative sense — to corrupt someone's mind or poison the social atmosphere — more abstract than 毒 (the concrete substance) and stronger than 腐蚀. Often takes abstract objects like 思想, 心灵, or 社会风气.

verb
to poison (someone) (literal)to poison (someone's mind)to corrupt (figurative)

Examples

  • 毒害。
    Tā qǐ tú yòng dú yào dú hài tā de chóu rén.
    He attempted to poison his enemy with poison.
  • 毒害。
    Zhè xiē bù liáng xìn xī huì dú hài nián qīng rén de sī xiǎng.
    This harmful information will poison young people's minds.
  • 毒害。
    Wǎng luò yáo yán yán zhòng dú hài le shè huì fēng qì.
    Online rumors have seriously poisoned the social atmosphere.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

毒dúpoison
害hàiharm

毒 means poison and 害 means harm, so the parts together express poisoning harm.

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
屮屮chèvegetation
Sound part声符shēngfú
毐
毐ǎi毒dú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

毒 pairs 屮, a plant part, with 毐 as a sound part; this form was used for a poisonous plant.

Open 毒 →

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀mián
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
丯
丯jiè害hài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

害 was borrowed purely for its sound. Its old picture, possibly a house rafter, is unrelated to harm.

Open 害 →
Appears in
Crime & Police

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