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瓦解 (wǎ jiě) — to disintegrate, to collapse (of an organization, system, etc.); to disrupt, to break up (something)

Definition

瓦解 (wǎjiě) means an organization, system, or morale falls apart from within — closer to 解体 than to the physical breaking of 碎 or the emotional崩溃.

verb
to disintegrateto collapse (of an organization, system, etc.)to disruptto break up (something)

Examples

  • 瓦解。
    Zhè ge dì guó zuì zhōng wǎ jiě le.
    This empire eventually disintegrated.
  • 瓦解。
    Tā men shì tú wǎ jiě dí rén dī shì qì.
    They tried to disrupt the enemy's morale.
  • 瓦解。
    Jiù zhì dù zài gǎi gé zhōng zhú jiàn wǎ jiě.
    The old system gradually disintegrated during the reforms.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

瓦wǎtile
解jiěcome apart

“瓦” evokes tiles and “解” means to come apart, like a roof breaking into pieces.

Characters in this word

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

瓦’s shape is a picture of fired earthenware pottery or a tile.

Open 瓦 →

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

解 shows 刀 (knife) separating 角 (horn) from 牛 (cow), giving the picture of cutting up an ox.

Open 解 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Change & Process

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