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鼹鼠 (yǎn shǔ) — mole (the animal); (figurative) mole, spy (especially in economic or corporate contexts)

Definition

A small burrowing animal (mole) — literally “cave rodent.” The same word is used figuratively for an undercover spy inside a company or organization.

noun
mole (the animal)(figurative) molespy (especially in economic or corporate contexts)
Measure word · 只

Examples

  • 鼹鼠。
    yǎn shǔ Shì yì zhǒng shēng huó zài dòng xué lǐ de xiǎo dòng wù.
    The mole is a small animal that lives in burrows.
  • 鼹鼠。
    Jǐng fāng huái yí gōng sī lǐ yǒu jīng jì yǎn shǔ.
    The police suspect there is an economic mole inside the company.
  • 鼹鼠，。
    Zhè zhǒng yǎn shǔ de shì lì hěn chà, dàn tīng jué fēi cháng líng mǐn.
    This kind of mole has very poor eyesight but extremely sensitive hearing.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

鼹yǎnmole
鼠shǔrat

鼹 “mole” and 鼠 “rat” combine to name a mole-like rodent.

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
鼠鼠shǔrat
Sound part声符shēngfú
晏
晏yàn鼹yǎn
Same sound today

鼹 is built from 鼠, a rat, and 晏, which gives the sound yàn.

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

The shape of 鼠 pictures a rat: the upper part looks like an open mouth with teeth, while the lower part shows two feet on the left and a tail on the right.

Open 鼠 →
Appears in
Animals & Mammals

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