Chinese word

投降

Pronunciation

Pinyintóu xiáng

Meaning

  • verbsurrender

Example

士兵向对方投降了。shì bīng xiàng duì fāng tóu xiáng le

The soldier surrendered to the other side.

Illustration for 投降 (surrender)

More examples

他最终主动投降，等待审判。tā zuì zhōng zhǔ dòng tóu xiáng děng dài shěn pàn

He finally surrendered voluntarily and waited for trial.

Core concept

The visible act of giving up resistance and accepting the other side's authority.

Common phrases

  • 向敌人投降xiàng dí rén tóu xiáng

    surrender to the enemy

  • 宣布投降xuān bù tóu xiáng

    announce surrender

  • 主动投降zhǔ dòng tóu xiáng

    voluntarily surrender

Similar words

认输rèn shū: Admit losing a contest or argument and give up trying to win.
屈服qū fú: Yield to strong pressure or force and follow the other side's wishes.

Definition in Chinese

向敌方表示放弃抵抗并接受对方控制的动作或行为，常用于军事或拘捕情形。xiàng dí fāng biǎo shì fàng qì dǐ kàng bìng jiē shòu duì fāng kòng zhì de dòng zuò huò xíng wéi cháng yòng yú jūn shì huò jū bǔ qíng xíng

Word origin

The combination of 投 (tóu, "cast or hand over") and 降 (xiáng, "surrender or yield") presents surrender as handing oneself over to the opposing side.

Usage tips

  • The word has a serious, dramatic tone in reports of battles or arrests, so ordinary conversational setbacks usually call for a milder expression.

Other meanings

  • capitulationnoun

Opposites

Word lists with this word