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重围 (chóng wéi) — tight encirclement; heavy siege

Definition

重围 (chóngwéi) means a tight encirclement or heavy siege — literal military use (enemy surrounded by one's army) or figurative (a company trapped by market forces). It emphasizes being hemmed in on all sides, not a loose surrounding.

noun
tight encirclementheavy siege

Examples

  • 重围。
    Dí rén xiàn rù le wǒ jūn de chóng wéi zhī zhōng.
    The enemy fell into our army's encirclement.
  • ，重围。
    Jīng guò sān tiān kǔ zhàn, wǒ men zhōng yú tū pò le chóng wéi.
    After three days of hard fighting, we finally broke through the encirclement.
  • 重围。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī shì tú zài shì chǎng de chóng wéi zhōng xún zhǎo chū lù.
    This company is trying to find a way out in the market's encirclement.

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.

重zhònglayer
围wéiencirclement

重 (layer) describes 围 (encirclement), giving rings of siege.

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
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
東
東dōng重zhòng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

重 developed from a picture of a man carrying a bag, with 人 for the man and 東 for the bag; a later ground element was folded into the form.

Open 重 →

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 圍; 围 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
囗囗wéienclosure
Sound part声符shēngfú
韋
韋wéi圍wéi
Same sound today

The traditional form 圍 pairs 囗 (enclosure) with 韋, which gives the sound; 围 is the simplified form of 圍.

Open 围 →
Appears in
Military & Defense

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