射击 (shè jī) — to shoot, to fire (a gun) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

射击 (shèjī) means firing a gun in military, sport, or game contexts. Use 射 for a single shot or arrows, and 发射 for rockets/satellites — not people shooting guns.

verb

to shootto fire (a gun)

Examples

射击。
Tā zài ào yùn huì shàng cān jiā le shè jī bǐ sài.
He participated in the shooting competition at the Olympics.
射击。
Jǐng chá zài xùn liàn zhōng liàn xí shè jī.
The police practice shooting during training.
射击。
Tā zài yóu xì lǐ xǐ huan yòng qiāng shè jī.
He likes to shoot with a gun in the game.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

击jīstrike

射 “shoot” and 击 “strike” combine to mean firing.

Characters in this word

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

弓弓gōngbow
矢矢shǐarrow

In 射, the left part comes from 弓 (bow) and 矢 (arrow), and the right part comes from a hand drawing the bowstring.

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 擊; 击 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

手手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

毄

毄jī擊jī

Same sound today

The traditional form 擊 has 手 (hand) and 毄; 毄 gives the sound and also points to striking, while the simplified 击 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 HSK 2.0 Level 5 Military & Defense 3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.