(chū mài) - to betray, to sell out in Mandarin
chūmàiTraditional: 出賣
Translation
to betray, to sell out
Word origin
A compound of 出 (chū, out) and 卖 (mài, to sell), literally to sell out, extended from selling goods to selling a person or a trust.
- Origin
- compound
- Root
- 出 (chū, out) + 卖 (mài, to sell)
Stroke order
出
卖
Examples
。
He betrayed his own friend.
。
I would never sell you out.
，。
For money he sold the company's secrets.
。
She felt she had been betrayed.
。
Someone who betrays a friend does not deserve forgiveness.
出卖 (chū mài) is betrayal with a price on it. The image is commercial: you handed someone over, or handed their secret over, and got something back for it. That makes it harsher than a simple broken promise.
It takes a person, a secret or an ideal as its object, and it is common in the passive with 被: 我被他出卖了, I was sold out by him. Spy films, office politics and family rows all run on this verb.
The trap is the literal reading. 出卖 no longer means to put goods up for sale in modern Mandarin; that is 出售 or plain 卖. If you say 我要出卖我的车, a Chinese speaker will hear that you are doing your car dirty.
Where this fits
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出卖: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "出卖" (to betray, to sell out): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 60.