拍板

pāibǎn

verb HSK 7-9 #31,034

Meanings

1 to make a final decision; to give the go-ahead
2 to have the final say

Characters

to slap; to clap

Literally 'slap the board' - like a judge banging a gavel or an auctioneer's hammer coming down.

Examples

这件事要等领导拍板才能定。

Zhè jiàn shì yào děng lǐngdǎo pāibǎn cáinéng dìng.

This matter has to wait for the boss to make the call.

他一拍板就决定了。

Tā yī pāibǎn jiù juédìng le.

He made the decision just like that.

Tips

history

The image comes from traditional Chinese court scenes where the magistrate slaps a wooden block (惊堂木) on the bench to signal a ruling. Now it just means whoever makes the final call.

Stroke Order

拍 pāi

板 bǎn