夹攻 (jiā gōng) — to attack from both sides; to pincer attack

Definition

verb

to attack from both sidesto pincer attack

Easily confused

夹攻，。
Dí rén cóng zuǒ yòu liǎng miàn jiā gōng, wǒ jūn xiàn rù le bāo wéi.
The enemy attacked from both sides, and our army was trapped in an encirclement.
，夹攻，。
Zhè cì zhàn yì zhōng, wǒ jūn cǎi yòng le jiā gōng zhàn shù, xùn sù jī kuì le dí jūn.
In this battle, our army used a pincer attack tactic and quickly routed the enemy.
夹攻，。
Tā zài biàn lùn zhōng bèi liǎng miàn jiā gōng, bù zhī rú hé fǎn bó.
He was attacked from both sides in the debate and didn't know how to refute.

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.

夹jiáfrom both sides

夹 means from both sides, 攻 means attack; together they describe attacking from both sides.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 夾; 夹 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 夾 draws a person with two people beside or under the arms, giving the idea of holding or sandwiching between sides.

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

工攵攻

Meaning part形符xíngfú

攵Written in full as攴pūhand holding a tool or weapon

Sound part声符shēngfú

工

Same sound today

攻 puts 工, which gives the pronunciation, beside 攵, a hand holding a tool or weapon.