半天
bàn tiān
Pinyin

Definition

半天
 - 
bàn tiān
  1. half of the day
  2. a long time
  3. quite a while
  4. midair
  5. CL:個|个[gè]

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

今天
jīn tiān
  1. 1 today
  2. 2 at the present
  3. 3 now
半
bàn
  1. 1 half
  2. 2 semi-
  3. 3 incomplete
  4. 4 (after a number) and a half
天
tiān
  1. 1 day
  2. 2 sky
  3. 3 heaven
天下
tiān xià
  1. 1 land under heaven
  2. 2 the whole world
  3. 3 the whole of China
  4. 4 realm
  5. 5 rule
天天
tiān tiān
  1. 1 every day
天气
tiān qì
  1. 1 weather
明天
míng tiān
  1. 1 tomorrow
昨天
zuó tiān
  1. 1 yesterday
一半
yī bàn
  1. 1 half
三更半夜
sān gēng bàn yè
  1. 1 in the depth of the night
  2. 2 very late at night
上天
shàng tiān
  1. 1 Heaven
  2. 2 Providence
  3. 3 God
  4. 4 the day before
  5. 5 the sky above
  6. 6 to fly to the sky
  7. 7 to take off and fly into space
  8. 8 to die
  9. 9 to pass away
中天
zhōng tiān
  1. 1 culmination (astronomy)
倚天屠龙记
Yǐ tiān Tú lóng Jì
  1. 1 Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, wuxia (武俠|武侠[wǔ xiá], martial arts chivalry) novel by Jin Yong 金庸[Jīn Yōng] and its screen adaptations
冬天
dōng tiān
  1. 1 winter
  2. 2 CL:個|个[gè]
前天
qián tiān
  1. 1 the day before yesterday
半场
bàn chǎng
  1. 1 half of a game or contest
  2. 2 half-court
半夜
bàn yè
  1. 1 midnight
  2. 2 in the middle of the night
半天
bàn tiān
  1. 1 half of the day
  2. 2 a long time
  3. 3 quite a while
  4. 4 midair
  5. 5 CL:個|个[gè]
夏天
xià tiān
  1. 1 summer
  2. 2 CL:個|个[gè]
大半
dà bàn
  1. 1 more than half
  2. 2 greater part
  3. 3 most
  4. 4 probably
  5. 5 most likely

Idioms (20)

一人得道，鸡犬升天
yī rén dé dào , jī quǎn shēng tiān
  1. 1 lit. when a man achieves the Dao, his poultry and dogs rise to Heaven (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to ride on sb else's success
  3. 3 Once one man gets a government position, all his cronies get in too
  4. 4 Once sb has cracked the problem, every Tom, Dick and Harry can do it
一个天南，一个地北
yī ge tiān nán , yī ge dì běi
  1. 1 to live miles apart (idiom)
一柱擎天
yī zhù qíng tiān
  1. 1 lit. to support the sky as a single pillar (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to take a crucial responsibility upon one's shoulders
一步登天
yī bù dēng tiān
  1. 1 reaching heaven in a single bound (idiom); (esp. with negative: don't expect) instant success
一瓶子不响，半瓶子晃荡
yī píng zi bù xiǎng , bàn píng zi huàng dang
  1. 1 lit. a full bottle makes no sound; a half-filled bottle sloshes (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. empty vessels make the most noise
一知半解
yī zhī bàn jiě
  1. 1 lit. to know one and understand half (idiom); a smattering of knowledge
  2. 2 dilettante
  3. 3 amateur
一鳞半爪
yī lín bàn zhuǎ
  1. 1 lit. one scale and half a claw (idiom); only odd bits and pieces
三天不打，上房揭瓦
sān tiān bù dǎ , shàng fáng jiē wǎ
  1. 1 three days without a beating, and a child will scale the roof to rip the tiles (idiom)
  2. 2 spare the rod, spoil the child
三天两头
sān tiān liǎng tóu
  1. 1 lit. twice every three days (idiom); practically every day
  2. 2 frequently
上天入地
shàng tiān rù dì
  1. 1 lit. to go up to heaven or down to Hades (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to go to great lengths
  3. 3 to search heaven and earth
上天无路，入地无门
shàng tiān wú lù , rù dì wú mén
  1. 1 lit. there is no road to the sky, nor door into the earth (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to be at the end of one's rope
  3. 3 to be trapped in a hopeless situation
上有天堂，下有苏杭
shàng yǒu tiān táng , xià yǒu Sū Háng
  1. 1 lit. there is heaven above, and there is 蘇杭|苏杭[Sū Háng] below (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. the beauty and affluence of Suzhou and Hangzhou is comparable with heaven
不啻天渊
bù chì tiān yuān
  1. 1 no less than from heaven to the abyss (idiom); differing widely
  2. 2 worlds apart
  3. 3 the gap couldn't be bigger
不终天年
bù zhōng tiān nián
  1. 1 to die before one's allotted lifespan has run its course (idiom)
不见天日
bù jiàn tiān rì
  1. 1 all black, no daylight (idiom); a world without justice
九天揽月
jiǔ tiān lǎn yuè
  1. 1 to reach for the stars (idiom)
事半功倍
shì bàn gōng bèi
  1. 1 half the work, twice the effect (idiom); the right approach saves effort and leads to better results
  2. 2 a stitch in time saves nine
人命关天
rén mìng guān tiān
  1. 1 human life is beyond value (idiom)
人外有人，天外有天
rén wài yǒu rén , tiān wài yǒu tiān
  1. 1 in the wider world there are people more talented than oneself (idiom)
人定胜天
rén dìng shèng tiān
  1. 1 man can conquer nature (idiom); human wisdom can prevail over nature

Sample Sentences

秦宇走到旁边的窗户，往里看，想看个究竟。这一看，让他愣了半天都无法缓过来。
QínYǔ zǒu dào pángbiān de chuānghu ，wǎng lǐ kàn ，xiǎng kàn ge jiūjìng 。zhè yī kàn ，ràng tā lèng le bàntiān dōu wúfǎ huǎn guòlái 。
QinYu then walked to the window on the side and looked into it. He wanted to figure out what actually happened. He was taken aback by what he saw and he didn't recover from the shock until a long time had passed.
Go to Lesson 
公司新来的那个实习生，我在问他正经事儿，他给我丢来一堆猥琐的熊猫，我研究了半天也没有看懂他在说什么。
gōngsī xīnlái de nàge shíxísheng ，wǒ zài wèn tā zhèngjīng shì r5 ，tā gěi wǒ diū lái yīduī wěisuǒ de xióngmāo ，wǒ yánjiū le bàntiān yě méiyǒu kàn dǒng tā zài shuō shénme 。
I was asking about work with the new intern in my company when he sent me a bunch of panda emojis that looked sorry or something. After analyzing for half a day, I still didn’t understand his message.
Go to Lesson 
首先，不管是小鲜肉也好老腊肉也好，你费劲心机撩了半天，他都无动于衷，就别期待什么铁杵成针的了，我们又不是铁匠，及时收手吧。
shǒuxiān ，bùguǎn shì xiǎoxiānròu yěhǎo lǎolàròu yěhǎo ，nǐ fèijìnxīnjī liáo le bàntiān ，tā dōu wúdòngyúzhōng ，jiù bié qīdài shénme tiěchǔchéngzhēn de le ，wǒmen yòu bù shì tiějiàng ，jíshí shōushǒu ba 。
First of all, whether it's a tender young thing, or a slightly older and more weathered person, if, however you try and tease it out of him, he remains aloof, don't expect to grind him down, we're not blacksmiths, just stop while the going is good.
Go to Lesson 
也没有什么特别的事，就觉得心里特委屈。薪水低，瑣碎的事一堆，上下班通勤时间加起來得花去大半天。
yě méiyǒu shénme tèbié de shì ，jiù juéde xīnli tè wěiqū 。xīnshuǐ dī ，suǒsuì de shì yīduī ，shàngxiàbān tōngqín shíjiān jiā qǐlái děi huā qù dàbàntiān 。
It wasn't anything in particular. I just felt very hard-done by. My salary was low, I had a load of trivial matters to handle and adding the commute to and from work, I was spending over half the day at work.
Go to Lesson 
说了半天还没告诉我你看了什么恐怖电影呢？
shuō le bàntiān hái méi gàosu wǒ nǐ kàn le shénme kǒngbù diànyǐng ne ？
After saying all this, you still haven't told me what horror film you saw?
Go to Lesson 
我们在村子里走了半天，也没见一户人家。
wǒmen zài cūnzi lǐ zǒu le bàntiān ，yě méi jiàn yī hù rénjiā 。
We walked for half a day in the village but didn’t see a single house.
Go to Lesson 
要验血、验尿、量血压，有很多检查要做，可能会花上半天的时间。
yào yànxuè 、yànniào 、liáng xuèyā ，yǒu hěnduō jiǎnchá yào zuò ，kěnéng huì huā shàng bàntiān de shíjiān 。
There is a blood test, a urine test, and we are going to measure your blood pressure and several exam as well. It might take you a while.
Go to Lesson 
他说了半天，我还是不明白。
tā shuō le bàntiān ，wǒ háishì bù míngbái 。
He's been talking for half a day and I still don't get what he's talking about.
Go to Lesson 
我想帮他取一个中文名字，可是想了半天还是想不出来。
wǒ xiǎng bāng tā qǔ yī gè Zhōngwén míngzi ，kěshì xiǎng le bàntiān háishì xiǎng bu chūlai 。
I want to give him a Chinese name, but I have been racking my brain all day and I still can't think of anything.
Go to Lesson 
可是这双特超值，好多人都想要，我抢了半天才抢到。
kěshì zhè shuāng tè chāozhí ，hǎo duō rén dōu xiǎng yào ，wǒ qiǎng le bàntiān cái qiǎngdào 。
But this pair was a steal and many people wanted them. I fought for them for awhile before I could get them.
Go to Lesson