Chinese word

搁浅

Pronunciation

Pinyingē qiǎn

Meaning

  • verbrun aground

Example

那艘船在雾中搁浅了。nà sōu chuán zài wù zhōng gē qiǎn le

That ship ran aground in the fog.

Illustration for 搁浅 (run aground)

More examples

由于分歧，双方的谈判搁浅了。yóu yú fēn qí shuāng fāng de tán pàn gē qiǎn le

Due to disagreements, negotiations between the two sides came to a standstill.

Core concept

A moving effort stops when it meets a shallow bottom or another barrier that holds it in place.

Common phrases

  • 项目搁浅xiàng mù gē qiǎn

    the project stalls

  • 谈判搁浅tán pàn gē qiǎn

    negotiations stall

  • 计划搁浅jì huà gē qiǎn

    the plan stalls

Similar words

停滞tíng zhì: Progress or change slows or stops, so that normal movement cannot continue.
陷入僵局xiàn rù jiāng jú: Become deadlocked in talks or discussion because neither side will compromise.
搁置gē zhì: Put a plan or matter aside for a while and handle it later.
暂停zàn tíng: Stop an activity or piece of work temporarily, with the possibility of resuming it.

Definition in Chinese

指船只在浅水或遇到暗礁时触底而无法继续前进；引申为事情或计划因障碍停止或无法推进。zhǐ chuán zhī zài qián shuǐ huò yù dào àn jiāo shí chù dǐ ér wú fǎ jì xù qián jìn yǐn shēn wèi shì qíng huò jì huà yīn zhàng ài tíng zhǐ huò wú fǎ tuī jìn

Word origin

搁 (gē, "set down") + 浅 (qiǎn, "shallow") describes a boat left resting on a shallow bottom, unable to move forward.

Usage tips

  • The word commonly appears in reports and conversation with organized efforts as its subject, so recognizing the subject helps distinguish its literal and figurative settings.

Other meanings

  • be stuckverb
  • come to a standstillverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word