苦战 (kǔ zhàn) — to fight bitterly; to struggle hard (in a difficult battle or endeavor)

Definition

苦战 means to fight or struggle hard through a tough, drawn-out battle or task. It emphasizes prolonged, grinding difficulty — stronger than ordinary 战斗 and more effortful than 奋战.

verb
to fight bitterlyto struggle hard (in a difficult battle or endeavor)

Examples

  • 苦战。
    Tā men zài zhè chǎng zhàn yì zhōng kǔ zhàn le sān tiān sān yè.
    They fought bitterly in this battle for three days and three nights.
  • ，苦战。
    Wèi le wán chéng zhè ge xiàng mù, wǒ men kǔ zhàn le zhěng zhěng yì nián.
    To complete this project, we struggled hard for a whole year.
  • 苦战，。
    Liǎng zhī qiú duì zài jué sài zhōng kǔ zhàn, zuì zhōng dǎ chéng le píng jú.
    The two teams fought bitterly in the final, eventually ending in a draw.

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.

苦kǔbitter; hard
战zhànfight

"苦" means bitter or hard and "战" fight, together mean a hard struggle.

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
艸艸cǎograss
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ苦kǔ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The top 艸 shows grass or plants, matching the sense of bitter plants. The bottom 古 gives the sound.

Open 苦 →

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 →

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