争
zhēng
to strive for
to vie for; to argue or debate; deficient or lacking (dialect); how or what (literary)
knife (⺈) + grasping hands (彐) + hook (亅) = to vie and struggle
The image is of two hands pulling at opposite ends of an object, with a hook at the bottom anchoring the struggle. It captures the physical tension of competing over something neither side will release.
两个孩子在争同一个玩具。
liǎng gè hái zi zài zhēng tóng yī gè wán jù 。
Two children are fighting over the same toy.
他们为了谁对谁错争了很久。
tā men wèi le shéi duì shéi cuò zhēng le hěn jiǔ 。
They argued for a long time over who was right and who was wrong.
Words with 争
争端
zhēng duān
dispute
争议性
zhēng yì xìng
controversial
星际争霸
xīng jì zhēng bà
StarCraft (video game series)
抗日战争
kàng rì zhàn zhēng
(China's) War of Resistance against Japan (1937-1945)
相争
xiāng zhēng
to vie against one another
百家争鸣
bǎi jiā zhēng míng
a hundred schools of thought contend (idiom); refers to the classical philosophic schools of the Warring States period 475-221 BC
争相
zhēng xiāng
to fall over each other in their eagerness to...
争面子
zhēng miàn zi
to do (sb) proud; to be a credit to (one's school etc)
郑人争年
zhèng rén zhēng nián
a futile quarrel
阶级斗争
jiē jí dòu zhēng
class struggle
鹬蚌相争
yù bàng xiāng zhēng
abbr. for 鷸蚌相爭，漁翁得利|鹬蚌相争，渔翁得利[yu4 bang4 xiang1 zheng1 , yu2 weng1 de2 li4]
鹬蚌相争，渔翁得利
yù bàng xiāng zhēng , yú wēng dé lì
lit. when the snipe and the clam grapple with each other, the fisherman catches them both (idiom)