a semantically light, transitive verb that is combined with various grammatical objects to form compound verbs and verb-object phrases with a diverse range of meanings (e.g. 打伞 dǎsǎn "to hold an umbrella", 打电话 dǎdiànhuà "to make a phone call", 打针 dǎzhēn "to get an injection", 打手套 dǎshǒutào "to knit gloves", 打气 dǎqì "to inflate")