决战 (jué zhàn) — decisive battle, final showdown | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

decisive battlefinal showdown

Measure word · 场

Examples

决战。
Zhè chǎng zhàn zhēng jiāng shì yì chǎng jué zhàn.
This war will be a decisive battle.
决战。
Jué sài shì liǎng duì zhī jiān de jué zhàn.
The final is a decisive battle between the two teams.
，决战。
Zhè cì tán pàn jiāng jué dìng gōng sī de mìng yùn, kě wèi shì jué zhàn.
This negotiation will decide the fate of the company; it can be called a decisive battle.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

决juédecisive

决 means decisive and 战 means battle, so 决战 is a battle that decides the outcome.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 決; 决 is its simplified writing.

氵夬決

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐ

Sound part声符shēngfú

夬

夬guài決jué

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 決 has 氵 (water) and 夬, which gives the sound. This describes 決, not the simplified 决.

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

占戈战

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

占

占zhàn战zhàn

Same sound today

战 pairs 占, which gives its sound, with 戈, a weapon.

Appears in

Military & Defense

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.