营救 (yíng jiù) — to rescue | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

营救 (yíngjiù) means to rescue, with a military/operational flavor — used for organized efforts to free trapped people. It's more structured than plain 救 and emphasizes the action of pulling someone out, like 抢救 in an emergency.

verb

to rescue

Examples

营救。
Tā men chéng gōng yíng jiù le bèi kùn de kuàng gōng.
They successfully rescued the trapped miners.
营救。
Jiù yuán duì zhèng zài nǔ lì yíng jiù hóng shuǐ zhōng de cūn mín.
The rescue team is working hard to rescue villagers in the flood.
营救，。
Jīng guò shí xiǎo shí de yíng jiù, suǒ yǒu shāng yuán dōu bèi jiù chū lái le.
After ten hours of rescue, all the wounded were saved.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

营yíngto save

救jiùto rescue

营 (to save) and 救 (to rescue) combine to mean helping someone out of danger.

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 營; 营 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

宮宮gōngpalace

Sound part声符shēngfú

熒

熒yíng營yíng

Same sound today

The traditional form 營 pairs 宮 (palace) with 熒 as a sound part, depicting a person working all night with a light on his house; the simplified 营 is a later abbreviation.

Open 营 →

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

攴攴pū

Sound part声符shēngfú

求

求qiú救jiù

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 救, 求 gives the sound, and 攴 is the action part.

Open 救 →

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Safety & Danger