jiàn

牮

Character · VerbTraditional間

prop up; separate

Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma

Meanings

2 senses · 3 examples
1.

verb

to prop up at an angle; to shore up; to support

technical

Used in construction or repair contexts to describe using a long object (like timber) to support a leaning structure.

Lǎo老
wū屋
yǒu有
diǎn点
wāi歪
 ，
shī师
fu傅
shuō说
yào要
zhǎo找
mù木
tou头
bǎ把
tā它
jiàn间
yī一
xià下
 。

The old house is leaning a bit; the craftsman said we need to find some timber to prop it up.

Gōng工
jiàng匠
men们
zài在
yòng用
cháng长
mù木
dǎ打
jiàn间
bō拨
zhèng正
nà那
dǔ堵
qīng倾
xié斜
de的
qiáng墙
 。

The craftsmen are using long timbers to shore up and straighten that leaning wall.

2.

verb

to block water with earth and stone

archaic

An archaic or literary term related to water conservancy or construction. Not commonly used in modern spoken language.

Gǔ古
shí时
zhì治
shuǐ水
 ，
cháng常
xū需
yǐ以
tǔ土
shí石
jiàn间
zhī之
 。

In ancient times, managing floods often required blocking water with earth and stone.