Since I have recently seen 对峙 used a few times in the Chinese shows that I watch, I decided to look it up and Baidu.com says it means"两山相对耸立" (two mountains standing and facing each other or at a stalemate) and I also used Jukuu.com and it said the meaning was "to face off". So I am wondering how do native Chinese speakers use this word because most examples of this word only talk about mountains facing each other and in the shows I watch they are usually not discussing mountains.
2 Answers
对峙 means "confrontation; stand-off" (be locked in a confrontation or face-off, with neither side attacking or retreating)
It is a metaphor that means "two sides standing still like two mountains facing each other; neither one would back down nor could they advance."
So I am wondering how do native Chinese speakers use this word
Some example:
两军对峙多日 - the two armies stood-off with each other for days (对峙 as a verb)
两军的对峙已经持续多日 - The stand-off between the two armies has been going on for several days (对峙 as a noun)
示威者与警方对峙 - the demonstrators stand-off with the police (对峙 as a verb)
示威者与警方的对峙最后以暴力结束 - the stand-off between the demonstrators and the police ended in violence. (对峙 as a noun)
it is a very formal and official word,we do not use it in daily life.its original meaning is two mountains facing each other,which you can se there is a 山 in 峙,but nowadays we use it to describe two force confront each other