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接力 (jiē lì) — to relay; to pass on (a baton, task, etc.)

Definition

接力 literally means 'relay race' — each person passes the baton and the work to the next, so it implies continuous, sequential effort. 转告/传达 is for passing a message; 接力 is for passing a task or baton, hands-on.

verb
to relayto pass on (a baton, task, etc.)

Examples

  • 接力。
    Tā men jiē lì wán chéng le zhěng gè xiàng mù.
    They relayed and completed the entire project.
  • 接力。
    Yùn dòng yuán men jiē lì chuán dì zhe nà miàn qí zhì.
    The athletes relayed that flag to each other.
  • 接力。
    Wǒ men xū yào jiē lì hé zuò cái néng chéng gōng.
    We need to cooperate in a relay fashion to succeed.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

接jiētake; connect
力lìeffort

The sense of 接, taking or connecting, combines with 力, effort, to convey passing a task onward.

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
扌Written in full as手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
妾
妾qiè接jiē
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 扌 shows a hand, matching the sense of receiving something in the hand, while 妾 gives the character its sound.

Open 接 →

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

力 is drawn as either an arm bending out from the side of the body or a wooden plough.

Open 力 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Sports & Athletics

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.