淘汰赛 (táo tài sài) — elimination tournament; knockout competition

Definition

noun
elimination tournamentknockout competition
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 淘汰赛
    Shì jiè bēi táo tài sài fēi cháng jī liè, měi chǎng dōu yǒu rén bèi táo tài.
    The World Cup elimination tournament is very intense; someone gets eliminated every match.
  • 淘汰赛
    Zhè cì diàn zǐ jìng jì táo tài sài cǎi yòng shuāng bài zhì.
    This e-sports knockout competition uses a double-elimination format.
  • 淘汰赛
    Zhǐ yǒu yíng dé táo tài sài de guàn jūn cái néng huò dé jiǎng jīn.
    Only the champion who wins the elimination tournament can get the prize money.

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.

淘汰eliminate
táowash outtàidiscard
联合Coordinate
sàimatch

Eliminate plus match means a tournament where losers are removed.

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
Written in full asshuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
táotáo
Same sound today

淘 is built from 氵, a water form, and 匋, which gives the sound táo.

Open 淘 →

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
Written in full asshuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
tàitài
Same sound today

汰 has 氵 on the left for water and 太 on the right for the sound.

Open 汰 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 賽; 赛 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
bèishell
Sound part声符shēngfú
sāisài
Same sound today

The traditional form 賽 uses 貝 (shell) for meaning and 塞 for sound. The simplified 赛 is a later shorthand.

Open 赛 →

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