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争霸 (zhēng bà) — to strive for supremacy; to contend for hegemony

Definition

争霸 (zhēng bà) means 'to vie for dominance' — typically used for states, companies, or teams competing for top power or a championship, not casual contests.

verb
to strive for supremacyto contend for hegemony

Examples

  • ，争霸，。
    Chūn qiū shí qī, gè guó zhū hóu fēn fēn zhēng bà, zhàn zhēng bú duàn.
    During the Spring and Autumn period, various feudal lords vied for supremacy, leading to constant warfare.
  • 争霸，。
    Zhè liǎng zhī qiú duì jiāng zài jué sài zhōng zhēng bà, zhēng duó guàn jūn.
    These two teams will contend for supremacy in the final, competing for the championship.
  • 争霸，。
    Kē jì jù tóu zài rén gōng zhì néng lǐng yù zhēng bà, tóu rù le jù é zī jīn.
    Tech giants are vying for supremacy in the field of artificial intelligence, investing huge sums of money.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

争zhēngstrive
霸bàhegemony

争 expresses contending, and 霸 names the supremacy being sought.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 爭; 争 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 爭 shows two hands on a plowshare; the simplified 争 is a later abbreviation, so this picture belongs to 爭, not 争.

Open 争 →

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

The original form paired 革 with 月 to show changes in moonlight.

Open 霸 →
Appears in
Conflict & AgreementGovernment & Politics5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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