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战斗 (zhàn dòu) — to fight, to engage in combat; battle, struggle

Definition

战斗 means military or armed combat — 'fight, battle' (N/V) — literally two sides clashing with weapons. 奋斗 is a metaphorical struggle toward a goal, and 搏斗 is a physical hand-to-hand scuffle, not organized fighting.

to fightto engage in combatbattlestruggle
Measure word · 场, 次

Examples

  • 战斗。
    Zhàn shì men yǒng gǎn dì zhàn dòu zhe.
    The soldiers are fighting bravely.
  • 战斗。
    Zhè shì yì chǎng jī liè de zhàn dòu.
    This is a fierce battle.
  • 战斗。
    Tā men yǔ dí rén zhàn dòu le yí gè yuè.
    They fought the enemy for a month.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

战zhànfight
斗dòufight

战 'fight' and 斗 'fight' together form the idea of combat or a battle.

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
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 →

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 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Military & Defense2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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