跳灯

跳燈

tiàodēng

verb

Meanings

HSK 4

灯一跳，车就得赶紧停下来。

Dēng yī tiào, chē jiù děi gǎnjǐn tíngxià lái.

As soon as the light jumps, drivers have to stop immediately.

HSK 7-9

这个红绿灯老跳灯，根本没有黄灯过渡。

Zhège hónglǜdēng lǎo tiàodēng, gēnběn méiyǒu huángdēng guòdù.

This traffic light keeps jumping - there's no yellow transition at all.

usage

Colloquial among drivers for a traffic light that changes phase abruptly. 跳 literally 'to jump' captures the feeling of skipping the yellow buffer.

跳 tiào

灯 dēng