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联手 (lián shǒu) — to act together, to join forces

Definition

联手 means two or more parties 'join forces' to do something — more concrete and action-oriented than the more general 合作. Unlike 勾结, it is neutral in tone, not collusive.

verb
to act togetherto join forces

Examples

  • 联手。
    Jǐng chá hé shì mín lián shǒu wéi hù shè qū ān quán.
    The police and the citizens joined forces to maintain community safety.
  • 联手。
    Zhè liǎng suǒ dà xué lián shǒu kāi zhǎn yán jiū xiàng mù.
    These two universities are collaborating on a research project.
  • 联手。
    Tā men jué dìng lián shǒu yìng duì shì chǎng biàn huà.
    They decided to act together to respond to market changes.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

联liánjoin
手shǒuhand

联 means to join and 手 means hand, so 联手 literally joins hands and means to act together.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 聯; 联 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 聯 combines 耳 (ear) and 絲 (silk); 联 is a simplified form of 聯.

Open 联 →

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Open 手 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Groups & Organizations

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