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你死我活 (nǐ sǐ wǒ huó) — to fight to the death; a life-and-death struggle; mortal combat

Definition

A fixed chengyu meaning 'a life-and-death struggle' — used to intensify a conflict, not a neutral verb. Mostly appears as 你死我活的 + noun, or after 拼/争/斗 as a result.

verb
to fight to the deatha life-and-death strugglemortal combat

Examples

  • 你死我活。
    Zhè liǎng jiā gōng sī zhǎn kāi le nǐ sǐ wǒ huó de jìng zhēng.
    These two companies have launched a life-and-death competition.
  • 你死我活。
    Tā men wèi le zhēng duó kòng zhì quán pīn dé nǐ sǐ wǒ huó.
    They fought to the death over control.
  • 你死我活。
    Zhè chǎng zú qiú sài tī chéng le nǐ sǐ wǒ huó de jú miàn.
    This football match turned into a life-or-death battle.

Origin

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
尔
尔ěr你nǐ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 亻 is a person, and the right part 尔 supplies the sound.

Open 你 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
歹歹dǎi
Sound part声符shēngfú
尸
尸shī死sǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

死 is built from 歹 and 尸: 歹 is the part tied to the meaning, and 尸 gives the sound.

Open 死 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

The glyph 我 originally drew a trident-like weapon. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write the pronoun "I", so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

Open 我 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠯑
𠯑𠯑活huó
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

活 is built from 氵 (water) and 𠯑, which shows the sound; 𠯑 later changed into 舌.

Open 活 →
Appears in
Conflict & AgreementIdioms & Set Phrases

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