疏通 (shū tōng) — to unblock, to dredge, to clear (physical obstruction); to facilitate, to mediate, to get things flowing (relationships, communication); to explicate, to clarify (a text)
Definition
疏通 covers three senses: physically unblocking (a pipe, a waterway), mediating (a conflict), and explicating (a text). Compare 调解 (mediate people in dispute) and 明确 (clarify a concept or fact).
verb
to unblockto dredgeto clear (physical obstruction)to facilitateto mediateto get things flowing (relationships, communication)to explicateto clarify (a text)
Easily confused
Examples
- 疏通。Gōng rén zhèng zài shū tōng xià shuǐ dào.The workers are unclogging the sewer.
- 疏通。Tā bāng máng shū tōng tā men zhī jiān de máo dùn.He helped mediate the conflict between them.
- 疏通。Lǎo shī gěi wǒ men shū tōng le nà piān gǔ wén.The teacher explicated that classical text to us.
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