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赌博 (dǔ bó) — to gamble

Definition

赌博 (dǔbó) names the activity itself — 'gambling' as a practice or industry. Compare 赌, the verb for a single act of betting, and 打赌, a casual wager between people; 博弈 is a formal/literary term for strategic games like chess, not commercial gambling.

verb
to gamble

Examples

  • 赌博。
    Tā yīn wèi dǔ bó shū le hěn duō qián.
    He lost a lot of money because of gambling.
  • 赌博。
    Zhèng fǔ yán lì dǎ jī fēi fǎ dǔ bó huó dòng.
    The government cracks down hard on illegal gambling activities.
  • 赌博，。
    Nǐ zuì hǎo yuǎn lí dǔ bó, nà shì gè wú dǐ dòng.
    You'd better stay away from gambling — it's a bottomless pit.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

赌dǔgamble
博bówager

赌 'gamble' and 博 'wager' combine to mean gambling.

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 賭; 赌 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèishell; money
Sound part声符shēngfú
者
者zhě賭dǔ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 賭 combines 貝 (shell; money) with 者, and this shape expresses the meaning to wager or to bet. The simplified 赌 is a shorthand.

Open 赌 →

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
十十shíten
Sound part声符shēngfú
尃
尃fū博
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from combining 十 (ten) with 尃; 尃 gives the sound.

Open 博 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Gambling & Chance5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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