挣扎

掙扎
zhēngzhá
verb HSK 7 #3,661

Meanings

  1. 1 to struggle
  2. 2 to wrestle
  3. 3 to flounder

Examples

Yú zài wǎng lǐ pīnmìng zhēngzhá.
The fish struggled desperately in the net.
Tā zài tòngkǔ zhōng zhēngzhá le hěn jiǔ.
He struggled in pain for a long time.

Tips

usage
挣扎 can be physical (struggling to break free) or figurative (struggling with hardship, inner conflict). Often paired with ... (struggling in/amid...).
mistakes
Don't confuse (zhēng, to struggle) with (zhèng, to earn money as in 挣钱). Same character, different tone and meaning.

Stroke Order

zhèng
zhā