Definitions
(verb)
to pour; to throw out; to invert; to place upside down
(adverb)
actually; however; contrary to expectation
(verb)
to fall; to collapse; to fail
(verb)
to change (transportation); to transfer
About
The character "倒" presents a case where form and meaning maintain a clear and logical relationship through its development. Its structure combines the human radical "亻" with the phonetic and semantic component "到", which means "to arrive", creating an inherent sense of a person arriving at a point of imbalance or change in state. This foundational idea of a shift from an upright position gave rise to its core meaning of "to fall" or "to topple over". From this physical concept, its meanings extended logically into related actions, such as "to pour out" (a vessel being inverted) and "to reverse" or "overturn", covering both concrete and abstract forms of inversion. A further semantic layer developed where the character functions as an adverbial marker, conveying a sense of contradiction or unexpected outcome, as if events have turned out contrary to expectation, thus maintaining a conceptual link to its original notion of reversal.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
他把杯子倒满了。
树被大风刮倒了。
请把垃圾倒在桶里。
这本书的页码印倒了。
请把顺序倒过来再说一遍。
开车前一定要先倒车。
那家公司因为经营不善倒闭了。
他不但没生气，倒笑了起来。