勇斗 (yǒng dǒu) — to fight bravely, to courageously combat (often in physical or metaphorical struggle)

Definition

勇斗 (yǒng dòu) means to fight or struggle bravely against a tough opponent — physical combat, competition, or evil forces. A formal, written-style verb; more literary than the everyday 打.

verb
to fight bravelyto courageously combat (often in physical or metaphorical struggle)

Examples

  • 勇斗，。
    Rén mín jǐng chá yǔ dǎi tú yǒng dǒu, zuì zhōng jiāng qí zhì fú.
    The people's police bravely fought the thug and finally subdued him.
  • ，勇斗，。
    Zài sài chǎng shàng, tā yǒng dǒu dào zuì hòu, yíng dé le guàn jūn.
    On the competition field, he fought courageously to the end and won the championship.
  • 勇斗。
    Zhè bù xiǎo shuō jiǎng shù le yīng xióng yǒng dǒu xié è shì lì de gù shi.
    This novel tells the story of a hero bravely fighting against evil forces.

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.

勇yǒngbrave
斗dòufight

勇 means brave and 斗 means fight, giving the sense of fighting bravely.

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
力力lìstrong
Sound part声符shēngfú
甬
甬yǒng勇yǒng
Same sound today

勇 pairs 甬, which gives the sound, with 力, a strength part, to mean brave and strong.

Open 勇 →

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

The shape of 斗 originally showed a ladle-shaped dipper or cup used to measure grain, held in a hand.

Open 斗 →

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