攻坚 (gōng jiān) — (military) to storm a fortified position; to assault a stronghold; (figurative) to tackle a key problem; to take on a tough challenge

Definition

攻坚 is 'to storm a stronghold' or 'tackle a hard problem' — the figurative sense ('take on a tough challenge') is what you'll see most often in modern Chinese, e.g. 脱贫攻坚.

verb
(military) to storm a fortified positionto assault a stronghold(figurative) to tackle a key problemto take on a tough challenge

Examples

  • 攻坚，。
    Bù duì zài líng chén kāi shǐ gōng jiān, xùn sù tū pò le dí rén de fáng xiàn.
    The troops began storming the fortifications at dawn and quickly broke through the enemy's line.
  • 攻坚。
    Zhè ge kē yán tuán duì zhèng zài gōng jiān xīn piàn zhì zào de hé xīn jì shù.
    This research team is tackling the core technology of chip manufacturing.
  • 攻坚。
    Tuō pín gōng jiān shì yì chǎng bì xū dǎ yíng de yìng zhàng.
    The fight against poverty is a tough battle that must be won.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

攻gōngattack
坚jiānstronghold

攻 means to attack and 坚 means the strong point; together they mean to attack a fortified position.

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
攵Written in full as攴pūhand holding a tool or weapon
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng攻gōng
Same sound today

攻 puts 工, which gives the pronunciation, beside 攵, a hand holding a tool or weapon.

Open 攻 →

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 堅; 坚 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
臤
臤qiān堅jiān
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 堅 pairs 臤, giving the sound, with 土, earth, giving the sense; the simplified 坚 is a later shorthand.

Open 坚 →

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