灭鼠 (miè shǔ) — to exterminate rats/mice

Definition

A formal verb meaning 'to exterminate rats/mice', typically used in official, public-health, or campaign contexts rather than casual speech. Example: 灭鼠行动 (rat-extermination campaign).

verb
to exterminate rats/mice

Examples

  • 灭鼠。
    Tā men zhèng zài kāi zhǎn yì chǎng miè shǔ xíng dòng.
    They are carrying out a rat extermination campaign.
  • 灭鼠。
    Zhè ge xiǎo qū qǐng le zhuān yè gōng sī lái miè shǔ.
    This neighborhood hired a professional company to exterminate rats.
  • ，灭鼠。
    Chú fáng lǐ lǎo shǔ tài duō, xū yào jǐn kuài miè shǔ.
    There are too many mice in the kitchen; we need to exterminate them quickly.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

灭mièexterminate
鼠shǔrat

灭 means exterminate and 鼠 means rat, so the action is directed at rats.

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 shape of 鼠 pictures a rat: the upper part looks like an open mouth with teeth, while the lower part shows two feet on the left and a tail on the right.

Open 鼠 →

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