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战败 (zhàn bài) — to be defeated, to lose (in war, battle, or competition); to defeat, to beat (an opponent)

Definition

战败 is both 'to be defeated' (intransitive, the losing side) and 'to defeat' (transitive, the winning side) — context and the object tell you which. Often used in military or competitive contexts.

verb
to be defeatedto lose (in war, battle, or competition)to defeatto beat (an opponent)

Examples

  • ，战败。
    Zài shàng yì chǎng zhàn zhēng zhōng, tā men zhàn bài le.
    In the last war, they were defeated.
  • ，战败。
    Wǒ jūn yīng yǒng zuò zhàn, zuì zhōng zhàn bài le dí rén.
    Our army fought bravely and finally defeated the enemy.
  • ，。
    Nà zhī bù duì zhàn le sān cì bài, shì qì hěn dī.
    That unit suffered three defeats, and morale was very low.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

战zhànfight
败bàidefeated

战 means fighting, and 败 gives the outcome of losing or being beaten.

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
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 →

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 敗; 败 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
攵Written in full as攴pūstrike
Sound part声符shēngfú
貝
貝bèi敗bài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 敗 has 貝 as the sound component and 攴 (written 攵) meaning strike. The simplified 败 is a later abbreviation, so its parts are not the original components.

Open 败 →
Appears in
Military & DefenseSuccess & Failure

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