投降 (tóu xiáng) — to surrender, to give up

Definition

投降 (tóu xiáng) is 'to surrender' — used for combatants giving up in a war, or a criminal yielding to police. Unlike 屈服 (yield/submit to pressure) or 自首 (turn oneself in to confess), it specifically implies accepting defeat.

verb
to surrenderto give up

Examples

  • 投降。
    Dí rén zuì zhōng tóu xiáng le.
    The enemy finally surrendered.
  • 投降。
    Tā jué dìng xiàng jǐng fāng tóu xiáng.
    He decided to surrender to the police.
  • 投降。
    Shì bīng men bú yuàn tóu xiáng.
    The soldiers were unwilling to surrender.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

投tóusubmit
降jiàngsurrender

投 means 'submit' and 降 means 'surrender', so the word means to give up in surrender.

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

The left part 扌 shows a hand, and the right part 殳 gives the sound of the character.

Open 投 →

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
阝Written in full as阜fùhill, wall
Sound part声符shēngfú
夅
夅jiàng降xiáng
Same sound today

降 pairs 阝 (a hill or wall, written in full as 阜) with 夅, a sound part meaning 'to descend'; together they picture descending a hill.

Open 降 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Military & Defense5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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