HSK · Level 24
135 words
Chinese word
拦
Pronunciation
Pinyinlán
Meaning
- verbstop
Example
他在门口拦住了我。tā zài mén kǒu lán zhù le wǒ
He stopped me at the door.
More examples
交警在路口拦下了一辆超速的货车。jiāo jǐng zài lù kǒu lán xià le yí liàng chāo sù de huò chē
A traffic police officer stopped a speeding truck at the intersection.
Core concept
A person or barrier gets in the path and holds someone or something back.
Common phrases
拦下lán xià
stop
拦住lán zhù
hold back
拦车lán chē
stop a vehicle
Similar words
挡dǎng: Physically block a person or thing from passing by standing in the way or placing an obstacle.
阻止zú zhǐ: Prevent an event or action from happening by taking steps to stop it.
拦截lán jié: Intercept a moving person or thing along the way and stop its progress.
制止zhì zhǐ: Make someone stop an action through words or a direct action.
Definition in Chinese
用手、身体或设置阻碍使他人或物停下或不能通过，常用于现场的直接阻止。yòng shǒu shēn tǐ huò shè zhì zǔ ài shǐ tā rén huò wù tíng xià huò bù néng tōng guò cháng yòng yú xiàn chǎng de zhí jiē zú zhǐ
Word origin
拦 (lán, "to stop") developed from the older 攔 (lán, "to block"), where the hand element and the railing-related element preserve the idea of placing an obstruction across a passage.
Usage tips
- In everyday Chinese, the verb often takes a result complement to show whether the attempted obstruction succeeds, which gives a completed event a clear outcome.