to strive for / to vie for / to argue or debate / deficient or lacking (dialect) / how or what (literary)

= + : Mnemonic symbol: The grim reaper, as 争 is often used in words involving war (...战争). In front of the engine ((e)ng1), the grim reaper (争) marks his next victims in passing. With a crayon (肀) he draws big "X"s on the crane (⺈) and James II of England (zh).

争 character breakdown

Character component without intrinsic meaning

I think this looks like a crane; to the left is its wing, and to the right its head.
Character component without intrinsic meaning

Aphrodite tags the space station's bathroom using her crayon.

Characters with 争 as component

clean / completely / only / net (income, exports etc) / (Chinese opera) painted face male role

= + : The grim reaper (争) is very annoyed by Joan of Arc (ji) eating popsicle after popsicle (冫) in the engine's bathroom ((e)ng4). She does not take care at all and repeatedly messes up the floor which the grim reaper has to clean (净) again and again.
variant of 淨|净[jing4]

= + : The grim reaper (争) is very annoyed by Joan of Arc (ji) eating popsicle after popsicle (冫) in the engine's bathroom ((e)ng4). She does not take care at all and repeatedly messes up the floor which the grim reaper has to clean (净) again and again.
still / calm / quiet / not moving

= + : Joan of Arc meets the grim reaper in the engine's bathroom. She is scared to death and does not dare to move, so she stands extremely quiet. This time, the grim reaper did not come for her; he just wants to drink from the fountain of youth, which is located in the engine's bathroom.
to struggle to get free / to strive to acquire / to make (money)

= + : The grim reaper (争) comes to the engine's bathroom ((e)ng4) to take James II of England (zh) with him. James II of England struggles (挣) to get free, but the grim reaper tightly grabs his back with a toy claw (扌).
used in 掙扎|挣扎[zheng1 zha2]
guzheng or long zither / long zither with 13 to 16 strings, developed from guqin 古琴 during Tang and Song times / Japanese koto
to open (one's eyes)

= + : The eye of providence (目) dressed like the grim reaper (争) and shocked James II of England (zh) in front of the engine ((e)ng1). Now James doesn't want to open his eyes (睁) so he doesn't have to see the grim reaper. The eye of providence can't even convince him to open his eyes and look at him to see that it was just a prank.
clang of metals / small gong
excel / lofty
Japanese variant of 淨|净
to admonish / to warn sb of their errors / to criticize frankly / Taiwan pr. [zheng1]
hideous / fierce-looking
old variant of 婧[jing4]

Words with 争

widely known / incontestable / undeniable / to not strive for / to not contend for
unfair competition / illicit competition
to be disappointing / to fail to live up to expectations
not to be crushed (idiom) / to be determined to have one's revenge
succession struggle / dispute over inheritance
second Manchu invasion of Korea (1636)
Sino-French War (1883-1885) (concerning French seizure of Vietnam)
people's war, military strategy advocated by Mao whereby a large number of ordinary citizens provide support in a campaign
two tigers fighting (idiom); fierce contest between evenly matched adversaries
if two tigers fight, one will get injured (idiom) / if you start a war, someone is bound to get hurt
the Korean War (started June 25 1950)
the Six-Day War of June 1967 between Israel and its Arab neighbors
first Manchu invasion of Korea (1627)

Sentences with 争

争 currently does not appear in any sentence.