hòng
noun #80,938

Meanings

  1. 1 internal strife; infighting; discord within a group

Examples

HSK 6
Shǒulǐng yī dǎo, pàixì jiù xiànrù nèihòng.
Once the leader fell, the faction descended into infighting.
HSK 7-9
Zhè zhī duìwu yīn nèihòng ér wǎjiě le.
The team collapsed because of internal strife.

Tips

usage
Essentially always in 内讧 ('internal conflict') - quarreling and power struggles inside one's own camp, party or team. The phrase comes from a 诗经 line about a pest gnawing from within.

Components

radical
yán
speech (left-side radical)
Speech radical on the left, side-form of . It frames the meaning as conflict carried out in words - quarreling and squabbling. Same family as to litigate, to remonstrate, to argue.
phonetic
gōng
work; labor
Right side supplies the sound (gōng to hòng). It is purely a sound marker; the 'work' meaning does not enter this 'infighting' word. Same phonetic in red and river.

Stroke Order

hòng