Chinese word

折断

Pronunciation

Pinyinzhé duàn

Meaning

  • verbbreak

Example

我不小心把铅笔折断了。wǒ bù xiǎo xīn bǎ qiān bǐ zhé duàn le

I accidentally broke the pencil.

Illustration for 折断 (break)

More examples

他生气时把相框折断了。tā shēng qì shí bǎ xiāng kuàng zhé duàn le

When he got angry, he broke the picture frame.

Core concept

One continuous bending action turns a single object into two or more separate parts.

Common phrases

  • 把相框折断了bǎ xiāng kuàng zhé duàn le

    break the picture frame

  • 把塑料尺子折断了bǎ sù liào chǐ zi zhé duàn le

    break the plastic ruler

  • 树枝被风折断了shù zhī bèi fēng zhé duàn le

    The branch was broken by the wind

Similar words

折zhé: Use force to bend an object or fold part of it.
掰断bāi duàn: Use the hands or fingers to bend an object until it breaks into pieces.

Definition in Chinese

使物体发生断裂或分离，通常指通过外力把它折成两段或多段。shǐ wù tǐ fā shēng duàn liè huò fēn lí tōng cháng zhǐ tōng guò wài lì bǎ tā zhé chéng liǎng duàn huò duō duàn

Word origin

折 (zhé, "bend") names the folding or bending action, while 断 (duàn, "separate completely") names the broken result, so the compound covers the full event.

Usage tips

  • This verb is a result expression, so it presents the object's final condition rather than only the movement that leads to it.

Other meanings

  • snapverb
  • break offverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word