干戈

gāngē
noun HSK 7-9 #34,984

Meanings

  1. 1 weapons of war
  2. 2 armed conflict
  3. 3 warfare

Examples

Liǎng guó zhījiān dàdònggāngē.
The two countries went to war with each other.
Zhè jiàn xiǎoshì bùbì dàdònggāngē.
There's no need to make a big fuss over this small matter.

Tips

history
(shield) and (halberd) were ancient Chinese weapons. Together they represent warfare. The idiom 干戈 means 'to turn swords into plowshares' (transform conflict into peace).
usage
Most commonly appears in the phrase 大动干戈, which can mean literally 'to wage war' or figuratively 'to make a big deal of something / go to great lengths.'

Stroke Order

gān