Chinese word

保留

Pronunciation

Pinyinbǎo liú

Meaning

  • verbpostpone

Example

请把这个问题保留到下次会议。qǐng bǎ zhè ge wèn tí bǎo liú dào xià cì huì yì

Please postpone this issue until the next meeting.

Illustration for 保留 (postpone)

More examples

我已经帮你保留座位了。wǒ yǐ jīng bāng nǐ bǎo liú zuò wèi le

I have already reserved a seat for you.

Core concept

Prevents a place, opportunity, or issue from being closed, taken, or settled before the appropriate later moment.

Common phrases

  • 保留意见bǎo liú yì jiàn

    withhold an opinion

  • 保留座位bǎo liú zuò wèi

    reserve a seat

Similar words

预约yù yuē: Makes an advance appointment for a service, location, or specialist.
预订yù dìng: Makes an advance booking for a venue, seat, or ticket.

Definition in Chinese

将某个位置、席位、资格或权利暂时保留，不让他人占用或取消；也可指把事情暂时放一放，等以后再处理。jiāng mǒu gè wèi zhì xí wèi zī gé huò quán lì zàn shí bǎo liú bú ràng tā rén zhàn yòng huò qǔ xiāo yě kě zhǐ bǎ shì qíng zàn shí fàng yí fàng děng yǐ hòu zài chú lǐ

Word origin

保 (bǎo, "protect") + 留 (liú, "leave or keep") gives the word its central sense of safeguarding something while allowing it to remain for future use or attention.

Usage tips

  • For a meeting topic, this word signals that discussion is still expected but moved to a later stage, which is different from dropping the topic altogether.

Other meanings

  • reservationnoun
  • reserveverb
  • keepverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word