TongTong
Sign in

灭口 (miè kǒu) — to silence (a witness or accomplice) by killing them

Definition

A crime/crime-fiction term meaning 'to silence (a witness) by killing' — usually implies a planned cover-up, not a spontaneous killing. Most often heard in news, legal, or thriller contexts.

verb
to silence (a witness or accomplice) by killing them

Examples

  • 灭口，。
    Bǎng fěi wèi le miè kǒu, bǎ zhèng rén shā le.
    The kidnappers killed the witness to silence them.
  • ，。
    Tā men zhōng yú miè le kǒu, méi rén zhī dào nà ge mì mì le.
    They finally silenced him, and no one knows that secret anymore.
  • ，。
    Jǐng chá gǎn dào shí, zuì fàn yǐ jīng miè le kǒu.
    By the time the police arrived, the criminal had already silenced the witness.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

灭mièdestroy
口kǒumouth

灭 to destroy + 口 mouth: destroying the mouth means silencing someone.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 滅; 灭 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
烕
烕miè滅miè
Same sound today

The traditional form 滅 pairs 氵 (water) with 烕 as a sound part to mean extinguish by water; the simplified 灭 is a later shorthand.

Open 灭 →

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

The form 口 looks like an open mouth.

Open 口 →
Appears in
Crime & Police

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.