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Chinese Character/Word:

Definition(s) for: 先下手为强

Hanzi Pinyin Definition(s)
先下手为强 xiān xià shǒu wéi qiáng - (idiom) strike first to gain the upper hand

List Ranking:

Where rank 1 is most common, and higher numbers are less common.

HSK 2 Level (2012) HSK 3 Band (2022) SUBTLEX-CH BeijingUni Global BeijingUni Weibo
- - 20,785 47,134 32,550

Individual Character Breakdown:

Simp Pinyin Eng
先 xiān- beforehand; first; earlier
- at first; originally
- for the time being; for now
- (prefix) my late (in referring to deceased relatives older than oneself)
下 xià- down
- downwards
- below
- lower
- later
- next (week etc)
- second (of two parts)
- to decline
- to go down
- to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc)
- measure word to show the frequency of an action
手 shǒu- hand
- (formal) to hold
- person engaged in certain types of work
- person skilled in certain types of work
- personal(ly)
- convenient
- classifier for skill
- CL:雙|双[shuang1],隻|只[zhi1]
为 wéi- as (in the capacity of)
- to take sth as
- to act as
- to serve as
- to behave as
- to become
- to be
- to do
- by (in the passive voice)
为 wèi- because of
- for
- to
为 wéi- variant of 為|为[wei2]
为 wèi- variant of 為|为[wei4]
强 qiáng- surname Qiang
强 jiàng- stubborn
- unyielding
强 qiáng- strong
- powerful
- better
- slightly more than
- vigorous
- violent
- best in their category, e.g. see 百強|百强[bai3 qiang2]
强 qiǎng- to force
- to compel
- to strive
- to make an effort
强 jiàng- variant of 強|强[jiang4]
强 qiáng- variant of 強|强[qiang2]
强 qiǎng- variant of 強|强[qiang3]

Other Words Containing 先下手为强

Sorted by the 'SUBTLEX-CH' rank because that seems like the most reliable. Words without a SUBTLEX-CH rank are ignored for being too rare.

Word HSK 2 Level (2012) HSK 3 Band (2022) SUBTLEX-CH BeijingUni Global BeijingUni Weibo
先下手为强 - - 20,785 47,134 32,550