敌我 (díwǒ): the enemy and us

Meanings

1 the enemy and us
2 friend or foe
3 us-versus-them (esp. in military and political contexts)

Characters

敌

Examples

在战场上要分清敌我。

Zài zhànchǎng shàng yào fēnqīng díwǒ.

On the battlefield you must distinguish friend from foe.

敌我力量悬殊。

Díwǒ lìliàng xuánshū.

The strengths of enemy and us are vastly unequal.

Tips

usage

敌我 almost always appears in fixed phrases: 敌我矛盾 (díwǒ máodùn — 'enemy-versus-us contradictions,' a Maoist political category for antagonistic class conflict), 敌我不分 (failing to tell friend from foe), 敌我识别 (military IFF — Identification Friend or Foe). It carries strong us-vs-them framing.