毒手 (dú shǒu) — murderous scheme; violent treachery

Definition

Literally 'poisonous hand' — a set phrase for a lethal attack or murderous scheme. Almost always used in the verb 遭毒手 / 下毒手 / 施毒手, never on its own.

noun

murderous schemeviolent treachery

毒手。
Tā chà diǎn zāo dào dí rén de dú shǒu.
He almost fell victim to the enemy's murderous scheme.
毒手。
Nà ge zuì fàn duì wú gū de rén xià le dú shǒu.
That criminal committed murder against innocent people.
毒手，。
Tā men àn zhōng cè huà dú shǒu, dàn bèi jǐng fāng jí shí zǔ zhǐ.
They secretly plotted a murderous scheme, but were stopped by the police in time.

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.

The 毒 of poison or harm attaches to 手, a hand or deed, giving a murderous scheme.

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.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Appears in