跳灯

跳燈

tiàodēng

verb

Meanings

HSK 6

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.

HSK 6

前面路口跳灯了，我赶紧踩了刹车。

Qiánmian lùkǒu tiàodēng le, wǒ gǎnjǐn cǎi le shāchē.

The light at the intersection ahead suddenly changed, so I hit the brakes right away.

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