Definition
围城 is a verb-object compound (离合词) meaning 'to besiege a city' — the verb 围 ('to surround') takes the object 城 ('city'). It can also be used as a noun to mean 'a besieged city', famously the title of Qian Zhongshu's novel 围城 (Fortress Besieged), which uses the siege as a metaphor for marriage and social entrapment. As a separable verb, you can insert aspect markers or measure words between the syllables: 围了城, 围过城.
v.o.
(verb-object) to besiege a city
Examples
- 围城，。Díjūn wéi chéng sān gè yuè, chéng zhōng bǎixìng kǔ bù kān yán.The enemy besieged the city for three months, and the people inside suffered unspeakably.
- ，。Tāmen wéi le chéng sān tiān, zhōngyú gōngpò le chéngmén.They besieged the city for three days and finally broke through the city gate.
- 围城，。wéi chéng róngyì shǒu chéng nán, zhè shì bīngfǎ chángshí.Besieging a city is easy, defending it is hard — this is common military knowledge.
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