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停手 (tíng shǒu) — to stop (what one is doing), to cease an action (especially hitting or fighting)

Definition

A verb-object phrase meaning to stop one's hands — i.e. stop what one is doing, especially hitting or working. Unlike 停止 (more formal/transitive) or 别打了 (just 'stop hitting'), 停手 is colloquial and often used as an imperative.

verb
to stop (what one is doing)to cease an action (especially hitting or fighting)

Examples

  • 停手。
    Tā tīng dào hǎn shēng lì kè tíng shǒu le.
    He stopped immediately upon hearing the shout.
  • ，。
    Tā tíng le yí xià shǒu, yòu jì xù gōng zuò.
    He paused his hand for a moment, then continued working.
  • 停手！！
    Qǐng tíng shǒu! bú yào zài dǎ le!
    Please stop! Don't fight anymore!

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

停tíngstop
手shǒuhand

“停” means stop and “手” refers to the hands; together they picture stopping the hands, i.e. ceasing an action.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
亭
亭tíng停tíng
Same sound today

The left side 亻 is a person, and the right side 亭 gives the sound tíng; this forms 停.

Open 停 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Open 手 →
Appears in
Conflict & Agreement

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