厮打 (sī dǎ) — to come to blows; to tussle

Definition

厮打 (sīdǎ) is a vivid, written-style verb meaning two or more people fighting each other physically — a step more literary and intense than plain 打, with a sense of mutual, messy grappling rather than a clean one-sided beating.

verb
to come to blowsto tussle

Examples

  • 厮打。
    Tā men yīn wèi yí jiàn xiǎo shì sī dǎ qǐ lái le.
    They came to blows over a small matter.
  • 厮打。
    Jiē shàng yǒu liǎng gè rén zhèng zài sī dǎ.
    There are two people tussling on the street.
  • 厮打。
    Tā qì dé xiǎng gēn duì fāng sī dǎ.
    He was so angry that he wanted to tussle with the other person.

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.

厮sīmutually
打dǎstrike

厮 means mutually, and 打 means to strike, together describing a mutual fight.

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
厂厂chǎng
Sound part声符shēngfú
斯
斯sī厮sī
Same sound today

厮 combines 厂 with 斯; the 斯 part gives its sound.

Open 厮 →

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng打dǎ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

打 uses 扌, a hand, to show an action done with the hand, and 丁 to give the sound.

Open 打 →

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