飞贼 (fēi zéi) — (noun) cat burglar; burglar who gains entry by scaling walls; (noun) enemy airman or aircraft; air raider (historical/wartime)
Definition
A compound noun with two historical senses: a 'cat burglar' (thief who scales walls), and, in wartime usage, an 'enemy air raider' (plane or airman attacking from the sky). 飞 here flips meaning by context — climbing vs flying.
noun
cat burglarburglar who gains entry by scaling wallsenemy airman or aircraftair raider (historical/wartime)
Measure word · 个
Examples
- 飞贼。Jǐng chá zhōng yú zhuā zhù le nà ge fēi zéi.The police finally caught that cat burglar.
- ，飞贼。Kàng zhàn shí qī, dí rén de fēi zéi cháng lái hōng zhà chéng shì.During the War of Resistance, enemy air raiders often came to bomb the cities.
- 飞贼，。Tā xiàng yì zhī fēi zéi, qīng qīng yí yuè jiù fān guò le gāo qiáng.He was like a cat burglar — with one light leap he vaulted over the high wall.
Appears in
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