TongTong
Sign in

越狱 (yuè yù) — to escape from prison; to break out of jail

Definition

越狱 means to break out of prison — used as a verb (e.g. 越狱犯 'escaped convict') and in set phrases like 计划越狱 'to plan a prison break'. Don't confuse with the surname 越 or 越…越… 'the more…the more'.

verb
to escape from prisonto break out of jail

Examples

  • 越狱。
    Nà ge fàn rén zuó tiān cóng jiān yù lǐ yuè yù le.
    That prisoner escaped from the prison yesterday.
  • ，。
    Tā yuè le liǎng cì yù, zuì hòu dōu bèi zhuā le huí lái.
    He broke out of jail twice, but was caught and brought back each time.
  • 越狱。
    Zhè bù diàn yǐng jiǎng de shì yì qún rén jì huà yuè yù de gù shi.
    This movie tells the story of a group of people planning a prison break.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

越yuèescape
狱yùprison

越 means escape and 狱 means prison, so it describes escaping from prison.

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
走走zǒuto walk or run
Sound part声符shēngfú
戉
戉yuè越yuè
Same sound today

越 is built from 走 (to walk or run) and 戉 (which supplies the sound); the 走 part shows the idea of going over or crossing.

Open 越 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 獄; 狱 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 獄 pairs 㹜 (two dog forms) with 言 (words), showing dogs barking at each other in a jail with guard dogs. The simplified 狱 is a later shorthand.

Open 狱 →
Appears in
Crime & Police

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.