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破门 (pò mén) — (v.o.) to force open a door; to break down a door; (v.o.) to score a goal (in soccer, hockey, etc.); (v.o.) to excommunicate (from a religious group)

Definition

A verb-object phrase with three distinct senses: literally breaking down a door, scoring a goal in soccer/hockey, and (formally) excommunicating someone from a church.

verb
(v.o.) to force open a doorto break down a door(v.o.) to score a goal (in soccer, hockey, etc.)(v.o.) to excommunicate (from a religious group)

Examples

  • ，。
    Jǐng chá pò mén ér rù, zhuā zhù le zuì fàn.
    The police broke through the door and caught the criminal.
  • 。
    Tā zài zuì hòu yì fēn zhōng pò le yí cì mén.
    He scored a goal in the last minute.
  • 。
    Nà ge shén fù yīn wèi wéi fǎn guī dìng bèi jiào huì pò le mén.
    That priest was excommunicated by the church for violating regulations.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

破pòbreak
门méndoor

'破' break and '门' door combine to mean force a door open.

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
石石shí
Sound part声符shēngfú
皮
皮pí破pò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

破 has 石 (stone) as its meaning part and 皮 as its sound part.

Open 破 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 門; 门 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 門 pictures a gate as two door shapes side by side; the simplified 门 is a later shorthand.

Open 门 →
Appears in
Crime & PoliceSports & Athletics

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