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烧毁 (shāo huǐ) — to burn down, to destroy by fire

Definition

烧毁 emphasizes the result — something is destroyed by fire (a building, documents). Unlike 焚烧 (deliberate setting of fire) or 销毁 (destroy by melting/burning, often documents), it focuses on the damage done.

verb
to burn downto destroy by fire

Examples

  • 烧毁。
    Yì chǎng dà huǒ bǎ zhěng gè cūn zi shāo huǐ le.
    A big fire burned down the whole village.
  • 烧毁。
    Zhè xiē wén jiàn bì xū quán bù shāo huǐ.
    These documents must all be destroyed by fire.
  • 烧毁。
    Tā shāo huǐ le suǒ yǒu jiù de rì jì běn.
    He burned up all the old diaries.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

烧shāoburn
毁huǐdestroy

烧毁 has 烧 burn leading to 毁 destroy, giving burn down.

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 燒; 烧 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
堯
堯yáo燒shāo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 燒 pairs 火 (fire) with 堯, which supplies the sound; the simplified 烧 is a shorthand.

Open 烧 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 毀; 毁 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 毀 combines 臼 (cracked skull), 工 (tool), and 殳 (hand action) as a man being hit in the head; this explanation is about 毀, not the simplified 毁.

Open 毁 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Safety & Danger

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