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辩解 (biàn jiě) — to defend oneself; to justify (one's actions or point of view)

Definition

辩解 is to defend or justify oneself after being blamed or questioned — often with a hint that the defense is weak or unconvincing. Unlike 辩护 (defending someone/something in argument or court), 辩解 focuses on excusing one's own actions.

verb
to defend oneselfto justify (one's actions or point of view)

Examples

  • ，辩解。
    Miàn duì tóng shì de zhì yí, tā nǔ lì wèi zì jǐ biàn jiě.
    Faced with colleagues' doubts, he tried hard to defend himself.
  • ，辩解。
    Tā fàn le dà cuò, hái zài bù tíng biàn jiě.
    He made a big mistake and is still justifying himself.
  • 辩解，。
    Tā bù xiǎng zài biàn jiě le, gān cuì chéng rèn le cuò wù.
    She didn't want to defend herself anymore and simply admitted her mistake.

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.

辩biàndefend
解jiěexplain

辩 gives the defensive purpose of 解, so it means to explain in one's defense.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 辯; 辩 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánsay
Sound part声符shēngfú
辡
辡biàn辯biàn
Same sound today

The traditional form 辯 pairs 言, meaning say, with 辡, which gives the sound; the simplified 辩 is a later shorthand.

Open 辩 →

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

解 shows 刀 (knife) separating 角 (horn) from 牛 (cow), giving the picture of cutting up an ox.

Open 解 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Conflict & Agreement

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