接连不断 (jiē lián bú duàn) — in rapid succession, one after another without…

Definition

An idiom meaning events keep happening one after another without a pause — stronger and more vivid than simply saying 不断.

idiom

in rapid successionone after another without pause

接连不断。
Zuì jìn jiē lián bú duàn dì fā shēng le hǎo jǐ jiàn dà shì.
Several major events have happened in rapid succession recently.
接连不断。
Guān zhòng jiē lián bú duàn dì yǒng rù tǐ yù chǎng.
Spectators poured into the stadium one after another.
接连不断。
Tā de shǒu jī jiē lián bú duàn dì xiǎng qǐ duǎn xìn tí shì yīn.
Her phone kept buzzing with text message alerts in quick succession.

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.

扌妾接

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

妾

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 扌 shows a hand, matching the sense of receiving something in the hand, while 妾 gives the character its sound.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 連; 连 is its simplified writing.

辶車連

The traditional form 連 joins 辶 (walk) and 車 (chariot) to show a man-drawn carriage; this note is about 連, not the simplified 连.

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

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 斷; 断 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 斷 uses 𢇍 (to cut) and 斤 (axe) together.