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断

duàn

1. verb to break; to snap

   麻绳太旧，一拉就断了。

   Máshéng tài jiù, yī lā jiù duàn le.

   The old hemp rope snapped at one tug.

2. verb to cut off; to interrupt

   这个山村过去常年断电。

   Zhège shāncūn guòqù chángnián duàn diàn.

   This mountain village used to go without electricity for long stretches.

3. verb to judge; to decide

   这件事是非曲直，请您来断。

   Zhè jiàn shì shìfēi qūzhí, qǐng nín lái duàn.

   Please be the judge of the rights and wrongs of this matter.

4. adverb absolutely (literary, with negatives)

   这种无理要求断不能答应。

   Zhè zhǒng wúlǐ yāoqiú duàn bù néng dāying.

   Such an unreasonable demand absolutely cannot be granted.

The full ChinesePath dictionary entry for 断 includes audio for every reading and example sentence, more example sentences, collocations, synonyms and links to the course units where it is taught.