滔滔

tāotāo

adjective #36,946

Meanings

1 torrential; surging (of water)
2 ceaseless; flowing on and on (of speech)

Characters

to surge; flood

to surge; flood

Examples

长江滔滔东流。

Chángjiāng tāotāo dōng liú.

The Yangtze surges eastward.

他讲起话来滔滔不绝。

Tā jiǎng qǐ huà lái tāotāo bù jué.

Once he starts talking he can't stop.

Tips

usage

Almost always reduplicated. The fixed idiom 滔滔不绝 (tāotāo bù jué, 'surging without stopping') is the everyday way to describe someone who talks endlessly — often slightly negative, hinting at not letting others get a word in.

Stroke Order

滔 tāo