挣
2 readings · tap one to hear it
to struggle to get free; to strive to acquire; to make (money)
Formation & memory
Break the character into parts you already know.
How 挣 is formed
Ideographic compound (会意字)
To fight 争 by hand 扌; 争 also provides the pronunciation
How to remember it
struggle · Heisig RSH #2223
fingers + 争 contend
Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.
Words with 挣
The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 垂死挣扎 | deathbed struggle; final struggle (idiom) | |
| 挣得 | to earn (income); to make (money) | |
| 挣钱 | to make money | |
| 挣脱 | to throw off; to struggle free of; Taiwan pr. [zheng1 tuo1] | |
| 挣扎 | to struggle | |
| 撒呓挣 | (coll.) to talk in one's sleep; to sleepwalk | |
| 挣揣 | see 掙扎|挣扎[zheng1 zha2] |