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并肩作战 (bìng jiān zuò zhàn) — to fight shoulder to shoulder; to work closely together (figurative)

Definition

A formal idiom meaning to fight or work side-by-side as allies, emphasizing shared effort in a common cause (war, projects, hard problems).

idiom
to fight shoulder to shoulderto work closely together (figurative)

Examples

  • 并肩作战，。
    Zhàn zhēng zhōng tā men bìng jiān zuò zhàn, zuì zhōng qǔ dé le shèng lì.
    In the war, they fought shoulder to shoulder and ultimately achieved victory.
  • ，并肩作战，。
    Zài gōng sī xiàng mù shàng, wǒ men bìng jiān zuò zhàn, yì qǐ kè fú le kùn nan.
    On the company project, we worked closely together and overcame difficulties together.
  • ，并肩作战。
    Tā men liǎng rén shì duō nián de hǎo yǒu, jīng cháng bìng jiān zuò zhàn jiě jué wèn tí.
    Those two are long-time friends and often join forces to solve problems.

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.

并肩shoulders together
并bìngtogether肩jiānshoulder
动宾Verb + object
作战fight
作zuòdo战zhànwar
动宾Verb + object

并肩 means shoulders together; 作战 means to fight, together describing fighting side by side.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 并 →

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

肩 combines a shoulder shape with a flesh part to show a shoulder.

Open 肩 →

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
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
乍
乍zhà作zuò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 亻 comes from 人, meaning 'person', and the right side 乍 gives the sound.

Open 作 →

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 →
Appears in
Military & Defense

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