DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
腰斬
简 腰斩 · 繁 腰斬Mandarin · pinyin yāo zhǎn
Meanings
- to chop sb in half at the waist (capital punishment)
- to cut sth in half
- to reduce sth by a dramatic margin
- to terminate
- to cut short
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Mandarin tones
1–3 · yao1 zhan3
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
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Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
jiu1 zaam2
Cantonese word readings for 腰斬. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack
jiu1 zaam2
Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.
Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
verb
- (historical) to execute by waist chop
- (figurative, by extension) to terminate an ongoing series (TV series, comics, concert tour, or other entertainment)
- (figurative) to diminish by half; to be reduced to half the original amount
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack