Meaning
断电 literally means 'to cut electricity' and refers to the loss or intentional disconnection of electrical power. It can be used as a verb meaning 'to cut the power' or as a noun referring to a power outage event. This word is commonly heard when discussing power failures, maintenance shutdowns, or deliberate disconnections.
Usage
Native speakers use 断电 in both casual and formal contexts to describe power outages. It can refer to accidental blackouts due to storms or equipment failure, as well as planned power cuts for maintenance. Common in news reports, daily conversation about household issues, and technical contexts. Often appears with measure words like 次 when counting occurrences.
Examples
- 01昨天晚上突然断电了，我们只好点蜡烛。, .There was a sudden power outage last night, so we had to light candles.
- 02小区通知明天上午要断电维修两个小时。.The residential complex notified us that power will be cut off for two hours tomorrow morning for maintenance.
Characters
Measure words
- 次断了三次电
Common collocations
- 突然断电sudden power outage
- 断电保护power-off protection
- 计划断电scheduled power outage
- 断电事故power outage incident
Antonyms
Origin
Compound word combining 断 (to break/cut off) and 电 (electricity), forming a straightforward descriptive term for power interruption.