Chinese word dictionary

折戟沉沙

zhé jǐ chén shā · lit. broken halberds embedded in the sand (idiom); fig. reminder of a fierce battle; remnants of a disastrous defeat

Practice word

Word information

Simplified折戟沉沙

Traditional折戟沉沙

Pinyinzhé jǐ chén shā

Part of speechDictionary

HSK 3.0Not listed

HSK 2.0Not listed

Character breakdown

Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.

折zhé

to break, to snap; to fold, to bend; to bow; humble

戟jǐ

a double-bladed axe

沉chén

to sink, to submerge; profound, deep

沙shā

sand, gravel, pebbles; granulated

How to learn 折戟沉沙

Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.

When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.

Related vocabulary

Words with the same characters

Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.

沙发shāfā

(loanword) sofa (CL:條|条[tiao2],張|张[zhang1]); (Internet slang) first reply to a forum post

打折dǎzhé

to give a discount

沉chén

to submerge; to immerse; to sink; to keep down; to lower; to drop; deep; profound; heavy; variant of 沉[chen2]

沉默chénmò

taciturn; uncommunicative; silent

沙漠shāmò

desert; CL:個|个[ge4]

沙子shāzi

sand; grit; CL:粒[li4],把[ba3]