Dictionary › 坎

坎

kǎn

Character

What 坎 means

1. pit
2. threshold
3. one of the Eight Trigrams {八卦|bā guà}, symbolizing water
4. ☵

Other readings

坎 is 多音字 — it is read more than one way, and the reading changes the meaning.

• kǎnold variant of {坎|kǎn}; pit; hole

Example sentences

• 我就是迈不过这道坎。
  Wǒ jiùshì mài bùguò zhè dào kǎn.
  I can't get over it.

Words starting with 坎

• 坎坷kǎn kě(of a road) bumpy; (of life) rough; to be down on one's luck…
• 坎肩kǎn jiānsleeveless jacket (usually cotton); Chinese waistcoat
• 坎儿kǎn rcritical juncture; key moment
• 坎坎kǎn kǎn(dialect) just now
• 坎城Kǎn chéng(Taiwan) Cannes, France
• 坎子kǎn ziraised ground; bank
• 坎培拉Kǎn péi lāCanberra, capital of Australia (Tw)
• 坎大哈Kǎn dà hāKandahar (town in Southern Afghanistan)
• 坎帕拉Kǎn pà lāKampala, capital of Uganda
• 坎德拉kǎn dé lācandela (unit of luminosity); standard candle
• 坎塔布连Kǎn tǎ bù liánCantabria in north Spain
• 坎大哈省Kǎn dà hā shěngKandahar province of Afghanistan
• 坎特伯雷Kǎn tè bó léiCanterbury
• 坎塔布连海Kǎn tǎ bù lián hǎiBay of Biscay (Spanish: Mare Cantabrico)
• 坎塔布里亚Kǎn tǎ bù lǐ yàCantabria, Spanish autonomous region, capital Santander 桑坦德
• 坎儿井kǎn r jǐngkarez, qanat or "horizontal well"…
• 坎塔布连山脉Kǎn tǎ bù lián shān màiCantabrian mountain range in north Spain dividing Asturias from Castilla-Leon
• 坎昆Kǎn kūnCancún
• 坎坷不平kǎn kě bù píngpotholed and bumpy road (idiom); fig. full of disappointment and dashed hopes
• 坎坷多舛kǎn kě duō chuǎnfull of trouble and misfortune (usu. referring to someone's life)
• 坎炁kǎn qì(TCM) umbilical cord (used as medicine)
• 坎𡒄kǎn lǎnto meet with misfortune
• 坎特伯雷故事集Kǎn tè bó léi Gù shì JíThe Canterbury Tales, collection of stories by Geoffrey Chaucer 乔叟
• 坎贝尔侏儒仓鼠Kǎn bèi ěr zhū rú cāng shǔCampbell's dwarf hamster (Phodopus campbelli)

Words containing 坎

• 心坎xīn kǎnbottom of one's heart
• 土坎tǔ kǎnearthen levee
• 尤坎Yóu kǎnRjukan (city in Norway)
• 田坎tián kǎnembankment between fields
• 布坎南Bù kǎn nán(surname) Buchanan
• 赤坎区Chì kǎn QūChikan, a district of Zhanjiang City 湛江市
• 阿利坎特Ā lì kǎn tèAlicante
• 阿尔坎塔拉Ā ěr kǎn tǎ lāAlcántara, municipality in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain…
• 坑坎kēng kǎnuneven (road); depression (in terrain)
• 命途坎坷mìng tú kǎn kěto have a tough life; to meet much adversity in one's life
• 赤坎Chì kǎnsee 赤坎区
• 门坎mén kǎnvariant of 门槛
• 土坎儿tǔ kǎn rerhua variant of 土坎
• 门坎儿mén kǎn rerhua variant of 门坎

Characters built on 欠

These share the phonetic component 欠 (qiàn), which is why their readings rhyme. Learning them as a family is far cheaper than learning them one at a time.

• 砍kǎnto chop; to cut down; to throw sth at sb
• 歛hānto desire; to give

Characters that look like 坎

Easy to confuse on sight. Compare them side by side once and the pair stops costing you.

• 败bàito defeat; to damage; to lose (to an opponent)
• 攻gōngto attack; to accuse; to study
• 牧mùto herd; to breed livestock; to govern (old)
• 纹wénline; trace; mark; pattern; grain (of wood etc); to tattoo
• 玫méi(fine jade); used in 玫瑰
• 炊chuīto cook food

Sounds the same

Read kǎn, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 砍to chop; to cut down; to throw sth at sb
• 侃upright and honest; cheerful; to chat idly
• 槛door sill; threshold
• 莰camphane C10H18
• 凵receptacle
• 欿discontented with oneself
• 𫐘used in 轗軻
• 顑yellow
• 歁unsatisfied (of eating)
• 嵌see 赤嵌楼
• 崁see 赤崁楼