肉搏 (ròu bó) — to fight hand-to-hand | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A verb for close-quarters, unarmed physical combat (拳脚、贴身格斗), not fighting with weapons. Often used in a 场面 or as a modifier: 肉搏战 hand-to-hand battle.

verb

to fight hand-to-hand

Examples

，肉搏。
Zài zhàn chǎng shàng, shì bīng men bù dé bù yǔ dí rén ròu bó.
On the battlefield, soldiers had to fight hand-to-hand with the enemy.
肉搏。
Zhè bù diàn yǐng lǐ de ròu bó chǎng miàn fēi cháng zhēn shí.
The hand-to-hand combat scenes in this movie are very realistic.
肉搏，。
Tā shàn cháng ròu bó, dàn qiāng fǎ bú tài hǎo.
He is good at hand-to-hand combat, but his marksmanship is not very good.

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.

肉ròuflesh or body

肉 is flesh or body and 搏 is fight, so combat is hand to hand.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The original shape of 肉 showed ribs of an animal’s torso, or simply a slice of meat.

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

手手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

尃

尃fū搏bó

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

搏 puts 手 (hand) beside 尃, which gives the sound; the hand part points to actions done with the hand.

Appears in

Military & Defense

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