板块

板塊

bǎnkuài

noun HSK 7 #19,460

Meanings

1 tectonic plate
2 sector; section (of a market or website)

Characters

board; plate; slab

piece; block; chunk

Literally 'plate block' — large rigid sections, whether of Earth's crust or of a market.

Examples

地球的表面由多个板块组成。

Dìqiú de biǎomiàn yóu duō gè bǎnkuài zǔchéng.

The Earth's surface is made up of multiple tectonic plates.

科技板块今天涨了不少。

Kējì bǎnkuài jīntiān zhǎngle bùshǎo.

The tech sector rose quite a bit today.

Tips

usage

板块 has three common contexts: geology (板块运动 'plate tectonics'), stock market (金融板块 'financial sector'), and websites/forums (论坛板块 'forum section'). The geological meaning came first, but the market usage is heard most often.

Stroke Order

板 bǎn

块 kuài