力战 (lì zhàn) — to fight hard, to struggle with all one's strength

Definition

力战 (lì zhàn) means to fight or struggle with full strength, often against a strong opponent or in a hard situation — a literary, written-style verb (more common in narrative or reports than everyday speech).

verb
to fight hard, to struggle with all one's strength

Examples

  • 力战，。
    Tā zài zhàn chǎng shàng lì zhàn dào dǐ, zuì zhōng qǔ dé le shèng lì.
    He fought hard on the battlefield to the end and finally achieved victory.
  • ，，力战。
    Miàn duì qiáng dí, tā men háo bú tuì suō, lì zhàn le sān tiān sān yè.
    Facing a strong enemy, they did not retreat and fought hard for three days and three nights.
  • ，力战。
    Suī rán duì shǒu shí lì hěn qiáng, dàn tā réng rán lì zhàn dào zuì hòu yí kè.
    Although the opponent was very strong, he still fought hard until the last moment.

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.

力lìeffort
战zhànfight

力 means effort, 战 means fight; together they mean to fight with all one's strength.

Characters in this word

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

力 is drawn as either an arm bending out from the side of the body or a wooden plough.

Open 力 →

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
戈戈gē
Sound part声符shēngfú
占
占zhàn战zhàn
Same sound today

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

Open 战 →

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