Definition
贼船 literally means 'pirate ship', but in everyday Chinese it's almost always used metaphorically in the idiom 上贼船 (shàng zéi chuán) — 'to board the pirate ship' — meaning to join a criminal gang or get trapped in a bad situation. As a noun, it can refer to the actual ship or, more commonly, to a criminal enterprise.
n.
pirate shipcriminal gang (often in the idiom 上贼船)
Examples
- 贼船。Nà sōu zéi chuán yǐjīng chénmò le.That pirate ship has already sunk.
- 贼船。Tā hòuhuǐ shàng le zéi chuán.He regrets boarding the pirate ship (joining the criminal gang).
- 贼船，。Zhège gōngsī jiù shì ge zéi chuán, jìnqù jiù chū bù lái le.This company is a pirate ship; once you get in, you can't get out.
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