明爭暗鬥
简 明争暗斗 · 繁 明爭暗鬥Meanings
- (idiom) to fight openly and maneuver covertly
Characters in this entry
- 明
- míng · bright, light, brilliant; clear
- 爭
- Look up this written character
- 暗
- àn · dark; obscure; in secret, covert
- 鬥
- Look up this written character
- 争
- zhēng · dispute, fight, contend, strive
- 斗
- dòu · dǒu · a dipper; unit of volume (ten 升 or litres); Kangxi radical 68; 8th lunar mansion, determinative star φ Sagittarii
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
2–1–4–4 · ming2 zheng1 an4 dou4
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
Read this spelling in Classical texts
Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.
明爭暗鬥 · find source passages ↗ · 明争暗斗 · find source passages ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
ming4 zang1 am3 dau3
Cantonese word readings for 明爭暗鬥. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
phrase
- (idiomatic) open and veiled strife
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack