Definition
敛 (liǎn) primarily means 'to collect, gather, or restrain' — seen in compounds like 收敛 (to restrain oneself, to converge) and 敛财 (to accumulate wealth, often by improper means). The dictionary gloss labels it a variant of 殓 (liàn, 'to encoffin'), but that usage is rare in modern Chinese; the common meaning is the one described here. Be careful not to confuse it with the homophone 脸 (liǎn, 'face').
g
to collectgatheror accumulateto restrainhold backor rein in
Examples
- ，。Tā zuìjìn xíngwéi yǒu suǒ shōuliǎn, bú zài nàme zhāngyáng le.He has recently restrained his behavior and is no longer so flamboyant.
- ，。Guānyuán lìyòng zhíquán liǎn cái, zuìzhōng shòudào le fǎlǜ de zhìcái.The official used his power to accumulate wealth and was eventually punished by law.
- ，敛，。Tīngdào zhège xiāoxi, tā liǎn róng zhèngsè, chénmò bù yǔ.Upon hearing the news, he assumed a serious expression and remained silent.
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