find time; snatch a moment
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 3 examplesverb
to find time amidst busyness; to snatch a moment (to do something else)
Often used with the suffix 儿 as 偷空儿. Implies squeezing out a brief period from a busy schedule for another activity.
Qián前
liǎng两
tiān天
céng曾
tōu偷
kòng空
qù去
kàn看
guo过
tā他
yī一
cì次
。
A couple of days ago, I found time to visit him once.
Nǐ你
shén什
me么
shí时
hou候
néng能
tōu偷
kòngr空
lái儿
wǒ来
jiā我
zuò家
zuo坐
坐
？
When can you find time to come over and sit a while at my place?
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Jīng经
lǐ理
měi每
tiān天
dōu都
hěn很
máng忙
，
hěn很
nán难
tōu偷
kòng空
chǔ处
lǐ理
sī私
shì事
。
The manager is busy every day, making it hard to find time to deal with personal matters.