疏通

shūtōng

HSK 7

疏通 — shūtōng

1. to unblock; to dredge; to clear (a pipe, drain, etc.)

   市政工人正在疏通下水道。 shìzhèng gōngrén zhèngzài shūtōng xiàshuǐdào — The municipal workers are dredging the sewer.

2. to get things flowing; to facilitate; to smooth relations or procedures (figurative); to lobby or mediate to remove obstacles

   他利用关系为项目疏通审批流程。 tā lìyòng guānxì wèi xiàngmù shūtōng shěnpī liúchéng — He used his connections to smooth the project's approval process.

3. to explicate; to make a text or argument clear and understandable

   老师在课堂上把这段古文疏通了一遍，便于学生理解。 lǎoshī zài kètáng shàng bǎ zhèduàn gǔwén shūtōng le yībiàn biànyú xuéshēng lǐjiě — The teacher went through and explicated this passage of classical Chinese in class to help students understand.