统统

tǒngtǒng · HSK 7

all

🧹 tǒng-tǒng doubles 统 (unite) — say it twice and you sweep up the whole lot, every last bit

统 means to unite or govern a whole system (think 'total'); doubling it to 统统 pushes it to all, the entire lot, no exceptions. The repeated tong-tong beat mimics a broom sweeping everything into one pile.

More Chinese words · How Chinese works