Dictionary › 争

争

zhēng

Old HSK 4 HSK 3.0 character level 4 Character Traditional 爭

争 (zhēng) means "to strive for; to vie for; to argue or debate". It is an HSK 3.0 level 5 word, and was HSK 4 in the old six-level list.

What 争 means

1. to strive for
2. to vie for
3. to argue or debate
4. deficient or lacking (dialect)
5. how or what (literary)

Example sentences

• 分秒必争。
  Fēnmiǎobìzhēng.
  Every minute counts.
• 斗争结束了。
  The fight is over.
• 他死于战争。
  He was killed in the war.
• 谁喜欢战争?
  Who likes war?
• 我反对战争。
  I'm against the war.
• 这是战争罪。
  This is a war crime.

Words starting with 争

• 争取zhēng qǔto fight for; to strive for; to win over
• 争论zhēng lùnto argue; to debate; to contend
• 争议zhēng yìcontroversy; dispute; to dispute
• 争夺zhēng duóto fight over; to contest; to vie over
• 争气zhēng qìto work hard for sth; to resolve on improvement; determined not to fall short
• 争先恐后zhēng xiān kǒng hòu(idiom) to compete to be first; to scramble to get ahead…
• 争端zhēng duāndispute; controversy; conflict
• 争吵zhēng chǎoto quarrel; dispute
• 争执zhēng zhíto dispute; to disagree; to argue opinionatedly
• 争辩zhēng biàna dispute; to wrangle
• 争相zhēng xiāngto fall over each other in their eagerness to ...
• 争斗zhēng dòuto struggle; to fight; struggle
• 争霸zhēng bàto contend for hegemony; a power struggle
• 争得zhēng déto obtain by an effort; to strive to get sth
• 争抢zhēng qiǎngto fight over; to scramble for
• 争光zhēng guāngto win an honor; to strive to win a prize
• 争鸣zhēng míngto contend
• 争夺战zhēng duó zhànstruggle
• 争先zhēng xiānto compete to be first; to contest first place
• 争分夺秒zhēng fēn duó miǎolit. fight minutes, snatch seconds (idiom); a race against time; making every second count
• 争战zhēng zhànfight
• 争持zhēng chíto refuse to concede; not to give in
• 争上游zhēng shàng yóuto strive to be among the best; zheng shangyou (card game)
• 争球线zhēng qiú xiànscrimmage line (American football)

Words containing 争

• 竞争jìng zhēngto compete; competition
• 战争zhàn zhēngwar; conflict
• 斗争dòu zhēnga struggle; fight; battle
• 力争lì zhēngto work hard for; to do all one can; to contend strongly
• 竞争力jìng zhēng lìcompetitive strength; competitiveness
• 抗日战争Kàng Rì Zhàn zhēng(China's) War of Resistance against Japan (1937-1945)
• 抗争kàng zhēngto resist; to make a stand and fight (against)
• 阶级斗争jiē jí dòu zhēngclass struggle
• 纷争fēn zhēngto dispute
• 解放战争Jiě fàng Zhàn zhēngWar of Liberation (1945-49), after which the Communists 共产党武装 under Mao Zedong 毛泽东 took…
• 竞争者jìng zhēng zhěcompetitor
• 鸦片战争Yā piàn Zhàn zhēngthe Opium War (1839–1842); the Opium Wars (1839–1842 and 1856–1860)
• 据理力争jù lǐ lì zhēngto contend on strong grounds; to argue strongly for what is right
• 百家争鸣bǎi jiā zhēng mínga hundred schools of thought contend (idiom); refers to the classical philosophic schools…
• 竞争性jìng zhēng xìngcompetitive
• 甲午战争Jiǎ wǔ Zhàn zhēngFirst Sino-Japanese War (1894-95)
• 与世无争yǔ shì wú zhēng(idiom) to stand aloof from worldly affairs
• 论争lùn zhēngargument; debate; controversy
• 不争bù zhēngwidely known; incontestable; undeniable
• 分争fēn zhēngto dispute; to struggle for mastery
• 息争xī zhēngto settle a dispute
• 相争xiāng zhēngto vie against one another; to fight each other; mutual aggression
• 不争气bù zhēng qìto be disappointing; to fail to live up to expectations
• 战争罪zhàn zhēng zuìwar crime

Characters that look like 争

Easy to confuse on sight. Compare them side by side once and the pair stops costing you.

• 申shēnto extend; to state; to explain
• 孕yùnpregnant
• 辛xīn(of taste) hot or pungent; hard; laborious
• 串chuànto string together; to skewer; to connect wrongly
• 夸kuāused in transliteration
• 伞sǎnumbrella; parasol

Sounds the same

Read zhēng, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 征journey; trip; expedition
• 睁to open (one's eyes)
• 蒸to evaporate; (of cooking) to steam; torch made from hemp stalks or bamboo (old)
• 怔(bound form) startled; terrified; panic-stricken
• 正first month of the lunar year
• 挣used in 挣扎
• 症abdominal tumor; bowel obstruction; (fig.) sticking point
• 铮clang of metals; small gong
• 丁used in 丁丁
• 狰used in 狰狞
• 钲gong used to halt troops
• 峥used in 峥嵘

Go deeper

• Every HSK 4 word, with the rest of its level.
• How characters are built from components.
• How to learn Chinese characters.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read zhēng correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.