攻防 (gōng fáng) — offense and defense (in military, sports, or competitive contexts)

Definition

A paired noun-adjective referring to offense and defense together, used in military, sports, and competitive contexts like cybersecurity — not a single action.

adjective
offense and defense (in military, sports, or competitive contexts)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 攻防。
    Zhè cì yǎn xí zhǔ yào xùn liàn gōng fáng jì shù.
    This exercise mainly trains offensive and defensive techniques.
  • 攻防。
    Liǎng zhī qiú duì de gōng fáng dōu hěn chū sè.
    Both teams' offense and defense are excellent.
  • 攻防。
    Wǎng luò ān quán zhuān jiā yán jiū le zuì xīn de gōng fáng cè lüè.
    Cybersecurity experts studied the latest offense-defense strategies.

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.

攻gōngattack
防fángdefense

攻 names attacking and 防 names defending, together covering both sides of a contest.

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
攵Written in full as攴pūhand holding a tool or weapon
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng攻gōng
Same sound today

攻 puts 工, which gives the pronunciation, beside 攵, a hand holding a tool or weapon.

Open 攻 →

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fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
方
方fāng防fáng
Same sound today

防 pairs 阝 (written fully as 阜) with 方, which gives the sound.

Open 防 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.