徘徊 (pái huái) — to pace back and forth; to hesitate, to dither; (of figures, prices, etc.) to fluctuate within a range, to hover

Definition

Examples

• 他在车站门口徘徊了很久，好像在等什么人。
  Tā zài chē zhàn mén kǒu pái huái le hěn jiǔ, hǎo xiàng zài děng shén me rén.
  He paced back and forth at the station entrance for a long time, as if waiting for someone.
• 面对两个工作机会，他徘徊不决，不知道选哪个好。
  Miàn duì liǎng gè gōng zuò jī huì, tā pái huái bù jué, bù zhī dào xuǎn nǎ ge hǎo.
  Faced with two job offers, he dithered and didn’t know which one to choose.
• 这个月的销售额一直在八百万左右徘徊。
  Zhè ge yuè de xiāo shòu é yì zhí zài bā bǎi wàn zuǒ yòu pái huái.
  This month's sales have been hovering around eight million.

Origin