Chinese word

熄火

Pronunciation

Pinyinxī huǒ

Meaning

  • verbstall

Example

在红灯前，车子突然熄火了。zài hóng dēng qián chē zi tū rán xī huǒ le

At the red light, the car suddenly stalled.

Illustration for 熄火 (stall)

More examples

在上坡起步时，车子容易熄火。zài shàng pō qǐ bù shí chē zi róng yì xī huǒ

The car easily stalls when starting uphill.

Core concept

Combustion suddenly goes out, so an engine loses its power and stops working.

Common phrases

  • 引擎熄火yǐn qíng xī huǒ

    engine stall

  • 起步时熄火qǐ bù shí xī huǒ

    stall when starting off

Similar words

停止tíng zhǐ: To stop the progress or movement of something, or bring it to an end.
关掉guān diào: To switch off an electrical device or machine so that it stops working.

Definition in Chinese

指发动机（尤指汽车发动机）因燃烧中断或点火失败而停止工作的动作或状态。zhǐ fā dòng jī yóu zhǐ qì chē fā dòng jī yīn rán shāo zhōng duàn huò dián huǒ shī bài ér tíng zhǐ gōng zuò de dòng zuò huò zhuàng tài

Word origin

熄 (xī, "go out") + 火 (huǒ, "fire") describes a fire going out and then extends to combustion stopping inside an engine.

Usage tips

  • English speakers may confuse an engine that stops because of a fault with one that is deliberately switched off; this word normally points to combustion stopping unexpectedly, especially in a car.

Other meanings

  • put out a fireverb

Opposites

Related words

  • 熄灭xī mièextinguishverb
  • 熄灯xī dēngturn off the lightsverb

Word lists with this word