yāo
zhǎn

common
verb
historical

Meaning of 腰斩

腰斩 means to cut in half at the waist (ancient capital punishment); to discontinue prematurely; to cut off in the middle; to cancel halfway. Pronounced yāo zhǎn.

  • to cut in half at the waist (ancient capital punishment)
  • to discontinue prematurely; to cut off in the middle; to cancel halfway

Definitions & Examples

Qín
cháo
de
chéng
xiàng
zuì
zhōng
bèi
pàn
chǔ
yāo
zhǎn
 

Li Si, the Prime Minister of the Qin Dynasty, was eventually sentenced to be cut in half at the waist.

Yāo
zhǎn
shì
zhǒng
zhǎn
shǒu
gèng
wéi
cán
de
xíng
 

Waist-cutting was a more cruel form of death penalty than beheading.

dài
de
yāo
zhǎn
tōng
cháng
shǐ使
yòng
de
tóu
huò
zhá
dāo
zhí
xíng
 

In ancient times, waist-cutting was usually carried out using huge axes or guillotines.