巷战 (xiàng zhàn) — street fighting; urban combat | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Refers specifically to close-quarters combat fought in city streets and alleys, a military/urban-warfare term — more specific and technical than the general idea of 'fighting.'

noun

street fightingurban combat

Measure word · 场

Examples

巷战。
Tā men bèi pò jìn xíng xiàng zhàn.
They were forced to engage in street fighting.
巷战。
xiàng zhàn Shì yì zhǒng cán kù de zhàn zhēng xíng shì.
Street fighting is a brutal form of warfare.
巷战。
Diàn yǐng zhōng yǒu hěn duō guān yú xiàng zhàn de jìng tóu.
There are many scenes about street fighting in the movie.

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.

巷 gives the lane setting and 战 the fighting, so it means combat in lanes.

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

己己jǐoneself

Sound part声符shēngfú

共

共gòng巷hàng

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

巷 is made from 共, read gòng, and 己, meaning 'oneself'.

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.

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