伥

倀
chāng
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 the ghost of a tiger's victim, believed to lure others to the tiger; an accomplice in evil

Examples

HSK 7-9
Wèihǔzuòchāng, bǐyù bāng huàirén zuò huài shì.
"To act as the tiger's ghost-helper" means to assist a villain in harming others.
HSK 7-9
Tā bāng piànzi piàn rén, wèihǔzuòchāng.
He helped the swindler cheat people, acting as the villain's accomplice.

Tips

culture
Folklore held that a person killed by a tiger became a 伥, a ghost forced to lure new victims to the beast. Hence 为虎作伥, "to be a tiger's lure", means aiding an evildoer.

Components

radical
亻 rén
person
亻 is the person radical, fitting 伥 as the ghost of a dead person.
phonetic
长 cháng
long; to grow
长 serves as the phonetic; the sound has shifted to chāng. It carries no meaning in 伥.

Stroke Order

伥 chāng