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毒打 (dú dǎ) — to beat savagely; to beat up

Definition

A separable verb meaning 'to beat savagely' — the split 毒打一顿 is the usual form (NOT 毒打着). 毒 acts as the intensifier ('viciously, brutally'), and the action is harsher than ordinary 打.

verb
to beat savagelyto beat up

Examples

  • 毒打。
    Tā bèi rén hěn hěn dì dú dǎ le yí dùn.
    He was severely beaten up by someone.
  • 毒打。
    Jǐng fāng huái yí tā céng jīng dú dǎ guò shòu hài zhě.
    The police suspect he once beat the victim savagely.
  • 毒打，。
    Zhè zhǒng xíng wéi shǔ yú dú dǎ, yīng gāi yán lì chéng fá.
    This kind of behavior constitutes savage beating and should be severely punished.

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.

毒dúpoisonous or savage
打dǎbeat

毒 conveys viciousness and 打 means to beat, so the word means to beat savagely.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng打dǎ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

打 uses 扌, a hand, to show an action done with the hand, and 丁 to give the sound.

Open 打 →
Appears in
Crime & Police

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