险胜 (xiǎn shēng) — to win by a narrow margin, to edge out

Definition

险胜 (xiǎn shèng) is a sports/competition term meaning to win, but only barely — the score or margin was very narrow. It emphasizes the closeness of the victory, not the win itself.

verb
to win by a narrow marginto edge out

Examples

  • ，险胜。
    Zài jué sài zhōng, zhǔ duì yǐ yì fēn xiǎn shēng le kè duì.
    In the final, the home team narrowly beat the visiting team by one point.
  • ，险胜，。
    Zhè cì xuǎn jǔ, tā xiǎn shēng le duì shǒu, yíng dé fēi cháng xīn kǔ.
    In this election, he narrowly defeated his opponent and won very hard.
  • 险胜，。
    Suī rán wǒ men xiǎn shēng, dàn shì dà jiā dōu jué de yíng dé tài xiǎn le.
    Although we won by a narrow margin, everyone felt it was too close.

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.

险xiǎnnarrow
胜shèngwin

险 (narrow, dangerous) combines with 胜 (win) to mean winning by a narrow margin.

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 險; 险 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阝Written in full as阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
僉
僉qiān險
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 險 pairs 阝, written in full as 阜, with 僉, which gives the sound; the simplified 险 is a shorthand.

Open 险 →

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
肉肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
生
生shēng胜shèng
Same sound today

The simplified 胜 changes the traditional 勝 by replacing part of its sound side with 生; the left 肉 relates to meat.

Open 胜 →

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