| 争分夺秒 |
zhēng fēn duó miǎo |
lit. fight minutes, snatch seconds (idiom); a race against time / making every second count |
| 争 |
zhēng |
to strive for / to vie for / to argue or debate / deficient or lacking (dialect) / how or what (literary) |
| 分 |
fēn |
to divide; to separate / to distribute; to allocate / to distinguish (good and bad) / (bound form) branch of (an organization); sub- (as in 分局) / fraction / one tenth (of certain units) / unit of length equivalent to 0.33 cm / minute (unit of time) / minute (angular measurement unit) / a point (in sports or games) / 0.01 yuan (unit of money) |
| 分 |
fèn |
part / share / ingredient / component |
| 夺 |
duó |
to seize / to take away forcibly / to wrest control of / to compete or strive for / to force one's way through / to leave out / to lose |
| 秒 |
miǎo |
second (unit of time) / arc second (angular measurement unit) / (coll.) instantly |