挣 扎

zhēng zhádictionary entry

to struggle

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-b13be731b992ed81. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

掙扎挣扎 [zheng1 zha2] /to struggle/

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: 掙扎

挣
zhēng
used in 掙扎|挣扎[zhēng zhá]
zhèng
to struggle to get free / to strive to acquire / to make (money)
扎
zhā
to prick / to run or stick (a needle etc) into / mug or jug used for serving beer (loanword from "jar") / (of troops) to be stationed (at) / Taiwan pr. [zhá]
zhá
used in 掙扎|挣扎[zhēng zhá]
zā
to tie / to bind / classifier for flowers, banknotes etc: bundle / Taiwan pr. [zhá]

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.