战 (zhàn): to fight, fight, war
战 (zhàn) is a Chinese character meaning “to fight.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 占 (phonetic) and 戈 (semantic). It ranks #145 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 战 spear. Its radical form 戈 (halberd) appears in many related characters such as 我 (wǒ, I), 成 (chéng, to succeed), 或 (huò, maybe).
Definitions
- to fight
- fight
- war
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 战 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 战
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 战争noun | zhàn zhēng | war | 6 |
| 挑战verb/noun | tiǎo zhàn | to challenge | 5 |
| 战斗noun/verb | zhàn dòu | to fight | 6 |
| 战胜verb | zhàn shèng | to prevail over | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 战场 | zhàn chǎng | battlefield |
| 大战 | dà zhàn | war |
| 开战 | kāi zhàn | to start a war |
| 战机 | zhàn jī | opportunity in a battle |
| 陆战 | lù zhàn | (military) to fight on land |
| 内战 | nèi zhàn | civil war |
| 二战 | èr zhàn | World War II |
| 枪战 | qiāng zhàn | gun battle |
| 战舰 | zhàn jiàn | battleship |
| 冷战 | lěng zhàn | cold war |
| 交战 | jiāo zhàn | to fight |
| 战俘 | zhàn fú | prisoner of war |
| 越战 | yuè zhàn | Vietnam War (1955-1975) |
| 战后 | zhàn hòu | after the war |
| 宣战 | xuān zhàn | to declare war |
战 appears in 100 compound words: 29 as the first character, 71 as the last, and 0 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 战 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (34)
lone army putting up a brave fight; fighting alone without help; struggling hard without support
the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895, conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea)
the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895, conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea)
Showing 12 of 34 idioms containing 战.
Example Sentences
战字的写法很特别，让我印象深刻。
zhàn zì de xiě fǎ hěn tè bié , ràng wǒ yìn xiàng shēn kè .
The character for "war" is written in a very distinctive way, which left a deep impression on me.
【东方日报世界视线】美国若击败伊朗 战火或延至台海
dōng fāng rì bào shì jiè shì xiàn měi guó ruò jī bài yī lǎng zhàn huǒ huò yán zhì tái hǎi
If the United States defeats Iran, the war may extend to the Taiwan Strait
世界视线:美国若击败伊朗 战火或延至台海
shì jiè shì xiàn : měi guó ruò jī bài yī lǎng zhàn huǒ huò yán zhì tái hǎi
World Perspective: If the United States defeats Iran, the war may extend to the Taiwan Strait
横眉冷看:一场长时间的战争
héng méi lěng kàn : yī chǎng cháng shí jiān de zhàn zhēng
Horizontal eyebrows look coldly: a long war
冬奥/越野滑雪收官战:瑞典名将安德松女子50公里夺金
dōng ào yuè yě huá xuě shōu guān zhàn : ruì diǎn míng jiāng ān dé sōng nǚ zǐ 5 0 gōng lǐ duó jīn
Winter Olympics/Cross-country Skiing Finale: Sweden's Andersson won gold in the women's 50km
...能·场外音丨陆玮鑫:冬奥会需引入“鹰眼挑战”系..
. . . néng chǎng wài yīn 丨 lù 玮 鑫 : dōng ào huì xū yǐn rù yīng yǎn tiāo zhàn xì . .
... Neng Sideline丨Lu Weixin: The Winter Olympics need to introduce the "Eagle Eye Challenge" system:
这里是黑斯廷斯战役发生的地方。
Zhèlǐ shì Hēisītíngsī zhànyì fāshēng de dìfang.
This is the place where the battle of Hastings took place.
汤姆在战斗中死了。
Tāngmǔ zài zhàndòu zhōng sǐ le.
Tom died in combat.
汤姆喜欢挑战自己。
Tāngmǔ xǐhuan tiǎozhàn zìjǐ.
Tom likes challenging himself.
这座城市在战争中被摧毁。
Zhè zuò chéngshì zài zhànzhēng zhōng bèi cuīhuǐ.
The city was destroyed in the war.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 战 (zhàn) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 战 and 和?
How many strokes does 战 have?
What is the radical of 战?
What are the components of 战?
What are common words containing 战?
What characters sound the same as 战 (zhàn)?
Is 战 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 战 with real-time feedback
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