Chinese word

填埋

Pronunciation

Pinyintián mái

Meaning

  • verbfill in

Example

他们把路边的坑填埋了。tā men bǎ lù biān de kēng tián mái le

They filled in the hole by the roadside.

Illustration for 填埋 (fill in)

More examples

春天他们把花坛里的洞填埋好，准备种花。chūn tiān tā men bǎ huā tán lǐ de dòng tián mái hǎo zhǔn bèi zhòng huā

In spring, they filled in the hole in the flower bed and prepared to plant flowers.

Core concept

Material is packed into a hollow and covered so the surface becomes level with the surrounding ground.

Common phrases

  • 填埋坑tián mái kēng

    fill in a pit

  • 往坑里填埋土wǎng kēng lǐ tián mái tǔ

    fill a pit with soil

Similar words

埋mái: Putting an object or waste into the ground and covering it with earth.
填补tián bǔ: Supplying what is missing by adding material or another needed resource.
填平tián píng: Putting soil or sand into a hollow place and smoothing it flat.

Definition in Chinese

用土壤或其他材料把坑、沟或空隙填满并覆盖，使表面与周围保持平整。yòng tú rǎng huò qí tā cái liào bǎ kēng gōu huò kòng xì tián mǎn bìng fù gài shǐ biǎo miàn yǔ zhōu wéi bǎo chí píng zhěng

Word origin

填 (tián, "fill") + 埋 (mái, "bury") combines the ideas of putting material into a hollow and covering it, matching the complete action named by the verb.

Usage tips

  • As a transitive verb, it commonly takes a hole, trench, or gap as its object, making it useful in descriptions of road and building repairs.

Other meanings

  • landfillverb
  • backfillverb

Opposites

  • 挖出wā chūdig outverb

Word lists with this word