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退却 (tuì què) — to retreat (physically, especially in military context); to shrink back, to flinch (from a challenge or difficulty)

Definition

退却 pairs a military sense ('retreat, withdraw') with a figurative one ('flinch or shrink back' from difficulty). 退缩 and 畏缩 are the purely figurative near-synonyms; 撤退 is military-only.

verb
to retreat (physically, especially in military context)to shrink backto flinch (from a challenge or difficulty)

Examples

  • ，退却。
    Dí rén dǐ dǎng bú zhù jìn gōng, zhǐ hǎo tuì què.
    The enemy couldn't withstand the attack and had to retreat.
  • 退却，。
    Yù dào cuò zhé jiù tuì què, yǒng yuǎn wú fǎ chéng gōng.
    If you shrink back at every setback, you'll never succeed.
  • 退却，。
    Tā miàn duì wēi xiǎn háo bú tuì què, yǒng gǎn dì chōng le shàng qù.
    He didn't flinch in the face of danger and bravely charged forward.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

退tuìretreat
却quèdraw back

Both 退 and 却 carry the sense of moving back, giving the sense of retreat or flinch.

Characters in this word

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

  • 皀皀jífood vessel
  • 夊夊suīdownward foot

退 originally showed 皀, a food vessel, with 夊, a downward foot, for leaving the table after eating. In modern 退, the vessel part 皀 changed into an unrelated shape.

Open 退 →

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 卻; 却 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
卩卩jié
Sound part声符shēngfú
𧮫
𧮫𧮫卻què
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 卻 uses 𧮫 for sound and 卩 for meaning; the simplified 却 is a shorthand.

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

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