增兵 (zēng bīng) — to send in more troops; to reinforce, to augment one's forces

Definition

A formal compound verb meaning to send extra troops or reinforce a military position. Used in news, history, and military writing rather than everyday speech.

verb
to send in more troopsto reinforceto augment one's forces

Examples

  • 增兵。
    Tā men jué dìng xiàng biān jìng zēng bīng.
    They decided to send more troops to the border.
  • ，。
    Qián xiàn yǐ jīng zēng le bīng, xíng shì yǒu suǒ hǎo zhuǎn.
    The front line has already been reinforced, and the situation has improved somewhat.
  • ，增兵。
    Wèi le shǒu zhù zhèn dì, zhǐ huī bù zài cì zēng bīng.
    In order to hold the position, the command headquarters reinforced again.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

增zēngadd
兵bīngtroops

增 means to add and 兵 means troops, so the meaning is to add troops, i.e. reinforce.

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
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
曾
曾céng增zēng
Same sound today

增 uses 土 (earth) to show that things grow in earth or are built from earth, and uses 曾 for the sound. This gives the sense of adding or increasing.

Open 增 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 斤斤jīna short axe
  • 廾廾gǒng2 hands

兵 combines 斤, a short axe, with 廾, two hands, showing a pair of hands holding a weapon.

Open 兵 →

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