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争分夺秒

zhēng fēn duó miǎodictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. fight minutes, snatch seconds (idiom) / a race against time / making every second count
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-4548f7025f2f7118. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

爭分奪秒 争分夺秒 [zheng1 fen1 duo2 miao3] /lit. fight minutes, snatch seconds (idiom); a race against time/making every second count/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 爭分奪秒

  • 争
    zhēng

    to strive for / to vie for / to argue or debate / deficient or lacking (dialect) / how or what (literary)

  • 分
    fēn

    to divide / to separate / to distribute / to allocate / to distinguish (good and bad) / (bound form) branch of (an organization) / sub- (as in 分局[fēn jú]) / fraction / one tenth (of certain units) / unit of length equivalent to 0.33 cm / minute (unit of time) / minute (angular measurement unit) / a point (in sports or games) / 0.01 yuan (unit of money)

    fèn

    part / share / ingredient / component

  • 夺
    duó

    to seize / to take away forcibly / to wrest control of / to compete or strive for / to force one's way through / to leave out / to lose

  • 秒
    miǎo

    second (unit of time) / arc second (angular measurement unit) / (coll.) instantly

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.