休眠

xiūmián
verb HSK 7-9 #18,756

Meanings

  1. 1 to hibernate
  2. 2 to lie dormant

Characters

Literally 'rest-sleep' - a deep, prolonged dormancy.

Examples

HSK 5
Xióng zài dōngtiān huì jìnrù xiūmián zhuàngtài.
Bears enter a state of hibernation in winter.
HSK 5
Diànnǎo jìnrù le xiūmián móshì.
The computer went into sleep mode.
HSK 7-9
Zhè zuò huǒshān yǐjīng xiūmián le jǐbǎi nián.
This volcano has been dormant for hundreds of years.

Tips

usage
休眠 works for animals (hibernation), volcanoes (dormant), and computers (sleep/hibernate mode). In tech contexts, it specifically means 'hibernate' (saves state to disk), as opposed to 待机 ('standby').

Stroke Order

xiū
mián