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过目 (guò mù) — to look over (a document/list) for review or approval

Definition

A formal verb meaning 'to look over / review (a document)' — usually a superior checking a subordinate's work. The 把 construction is common, as in 请把名单过一下目.

verb
to look over (a document/list) for review or approval

Examples

  • 过目。
    Qǐng nín guò mù zhè fèn hé tong.
    Please look over this contract.
  • 。
    Qǐng bǎ míng dān gěi wǒ guò yí xià mù.
    Please let me take a quick look at the list.
  • 过目。
    Zhè xiē wén jiàn dōu xū yào nín qīn zì guò mù.
    All these documents need your personal review.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

过guòpass over
目mùeye

过 means 'pass over', and 目 is the eye, so the sense is to pass one's eye over something to check it.

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 過; 过 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辵辵chuòwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
咼
咼wāi過guò
Same sound today

The traditional form 過 pairs 辵 (walk) with 咼 as a sound component; the simplified 过 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 过 →

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

目 began as a drawing of a human eye, turned sideways.

Open 目 →
Appears in
Reading & Writing

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