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突击 (tū jī) — to launch a surprise attack; to assault; to do something intensively in a short time; to cram; to rush through

Definition

突击 covers both senses: a surprise military-style attack (like 袭击) and a short, intensive burst of work/study to finish something fast (like 补习, but 补习 is for school subjects over time, while 突击 is a sudden push on any task).

verb
to launch a surprise attackto assaultto do something intensively in a short timeto cramto rush through
Easily confused

Examples

  • 突击。
    Jūn duì zài qīng chén fā dòng le yì chǎng tū jī.
    The army launched a surprise attack in the early morning.
  • ，突击。
    Míng tiān kǎo shì, tā xū yào tū jī fù xí yì zhěng tiān.
    He needs to cram all day for tomorrow's exam.
  • ，突击。
    Wèi le àn shí wán chéng rèn wu, tuán duì jué dìng tū jī gōng zuò.
    To finish the task on time, the team decided to work intensively.

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.

突tūsudden
击jīattack

突 expresses suddenness and 击 expresses attack, so together they mean a surprise assault.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

突 shows 犬 (dog) under 穴 (cave; den), as a dog suddenly coming out of a den.

Open 突 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 擊; 击 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
毄
毄jī擊jī
Same sound today

The traditional form 擊 has 手 (hand) and 毄; 毄 gives the sound and also points to striking, while the simplified 击 is a later shorthand.

Open 击 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Military & Defense

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