斗 (dòu): to fight; to struggle

Meanings

1 to fight; to struggle
2 to contend; to compete
3 to condemn; to censure (esp. in political struggle sessions)
4 to put together; to come together

Characters

斗

dòu

to fight; to struggle

Simplified shape is borrowed; the traditional 鬥 depicts two figures grappling face to face.

Examples

HSK 4

年轻人要为梦想奋斗。

Niánqīngrén yào wèi mèngxiǎng fèndòu.

Young people should strive to achieve their dreams.

HSK 6

士兵在战场上英勇战斗。

Shìbīng zài zhànchǎng shàng yīngyǒng zhàndòu.

Soldiers fought bravely on the battlefield.

HSK 7-9

吃完饭一家人总要斗地主几局。

Chī wán fàn yìjiārén zǒng yào dòudìzhǔ jǐ jú.

After dinner the family always plays a few rounds of Dou Dizhu.

Tips

usage

dòu covers fighting and competing in many flavors: 战斗 (combat), 斗争 (struggle), 奋斗 (to strive), 格斗 (hand-to-hand), 搏斗 (to wrestle), 决斗 (to duel), 斗气 (to bicker out of pique), 斗嘴 (to quarrel). For the dipper / measure / pipe-bowl senses, switch to the dǒu reading.

culture

斗地主 ('Fight the Landlord') is the dominant three-player card game in China - its name fuses revolutionary-era language with everyday card-table use. The wider 斗-genre family also gave rise to 宫斗 (harem-intrigue dramas) and 宅斗 (household-scheming web fiction).

Components

pictograph

斗 dòu

dipper; measuring ladle

Pictograph of a long-handled grain ladle (one 斗 ≈ ten 升). The two short top strokes are the grain piled in the scoop; the long downstroke is the handle. Filed as Kangxi radical 68, indexing scoop-like vessels and graded measures: 料 (material / to measure), 斜 (slanting - the angle of a tilted ladle), 斟 (to pour out a drink). The simplified character also doubles as the unrelated 鬥 (fight), giving it the second reading dòu.

Radical

Dipper Kangxi #68

Pictograph of a long-handled ladle used as a grain measure (one 斗 ≈ 10 升). As a radical it indexes scoop-like vessels and graded measures: 料 (material/measure), 斜 (slanting, the angle of a tilted ladle), 斟 (pour out a drink), 斡 (turn). The simplified character also writes the unrelated word 鬥 (fight).