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编队 (biān duì) — (v.o.) to form a formation; to organize (people or equipment) into a team or unit

Definition

A military or technical term for organizing ships, aircraft, or personnel into a formation. Used as a verb-object phrase (编 + 队) and separable (编好队 / 编一下队).

verb
(v.o.) to form a formationto organize (people or equipment) into a team or unit

Examples

  • 编队，。
    Fēi xíng yuán zhèng zài biān duì, zhǔn bèi qǐ fēi.
    The pilots are forming up, preparing for takeoff.
  • ，。
    Tā men yǐ jīng biān hǎo le duì, kě yǐ chū fā le.
    They have already formed up and can set out.
  • 编队。
    Zhǐ huī guān mìng lìng shì bīng àn bān biān duì.
    The commander ordered the soldiers to form up by squad.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

编biānarrange
队duìteam/column

编 (arrange) + 队 (team/column) means to arrange people or craft into a formation.

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 編; 编 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìthread
Sound part声符shēngfú
扁
扁biǎn編biān
Same sound today

The traditional form 編 pairs 糸 (thread), for knitting a book together, with 扁 as the sound part; the simplified 编 is only a shorthand.

Open 编 →

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 隊; 队 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阜阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
㒸
㒸㒸隊duì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 隊 has 阜 as the meaning part and 㒸 as the sound part.

Open 队 →
Appears in
Military & Defense

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