毒枭 (dú xiāo) — drug lord; kingpin | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

drug lordkingpin

Measure word · 个

毒枭。
Jǐng fāng zuì jìn zhuā bǔ le yì míng dà dú xiāo.
The police recently arrested a major drug lord.
毒枭。
Zhè bù jì lù piàn jiē lù le dú xiāo de kuà guó fàn zuì wǎng luò.
This documentary exposes the transnational criminal network of a drug lord.
毒枭。
dú xiāo Lì yòng wù liú gōng sī zǒu sī dú pǐn.
The drug lord used a logistics company to smuggle drugs.

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.

枭xiāofierce leader

'毒' names drugs and '枭' suggests a fierce leader, so the word means a drug kingpin.

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.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in