evening’s work all came to nothing. III ADV for free ■ 世界上没有白吃的午餐。Shìjiè shang méiyǒu
bái chī de wǔcān. There is no free lunch in the world. (→ There’s no such thing as a free lunch.)
báicài 白菜 [modif: 白 white + 菜 vegetable] N cabbage (棵 kē) ■ 在中国北方，白菜是冬天最便
宜、最普通的蔬菜。Zài Zhōngguó běifāng, báicài shì dōngtiān zuì piányi, zuì pǔtōng de shūcài.
In Northern China, cabbage is the cheapest, most ordinary vegetable in winter.
báikāishuǐ 白开水 plain boiled water ■ 感冒了 要喝白开水。Gǎnmào le yào hē báikāishuǐ. You
should drink a lot of boiled water when you’ve got a cold.
báirén 白人 N white man/woman, white people
báitiān 白天 [modif: 白 white + 天 day] N daytime ■ 春天来了，白天越来越长了。Chūntiān lái le,
báitiān yuèlaiyuè cháng le. Spring has come. Days become longer and longer. ■ 他家白天一般 没
有人，你还是晚上去吧。Tā jiā báitiān yìbān méiyǒu rén, nǐ háishì wǎnshang qù ba. There is
usually nobody at his home during the day. You should go there in the evening.
bǎi 百 NUM hundred 三百元 sān bǎi yuán three hundred yuan/dollars
NOTE: 百 bǎi may have the abstract sense of a great deal of and a multitude of. This sense can be found
in many expressions, e.g. 百闻不如一见 Bǎi wén bùrú yí jiàn, which literally means “A hundred sounds are
not as good as one sight” and may be translated as “Seeing is believing.” Another example is 百忙 bǎi
máng, meaning very busy. For example: ■ 你百忙中来看我，太好了。Nǐ bǎi máng zhōng lái kàn wǒ, tài hǎo le. It’s
very kind of you to come to see me when you’re so busy.bǎifēnbǐ 百分比 N percentage
bǎifēndiǎn 百分点 N one percentage
bǎirìké 百日咳 N whooping cough
bǎixìng 百姓 N common people, ordinary people 老百姓 lǎobǎixìng common people, ordinary people
bǎi 摆 TRAD 擺 V put, place, arrange ■ 桌子上摆 着一只大花瓶。Zhuōzi shang bǎizhe yì zhī dà
huāpíng. On the table is placed a big vase. ■ 吃饭了，你把碗筷摆好吧！Chīfàn le, nǐ bǎ
wǎnkuài bǎihǎo ba! It’s mealtime; will you please set the table?
bǎituō 摆脱 V break away from, shake off
bài 败 TRAD 敗 V be defeated (ANTONYM 胜 shèng) ■ 我们球队又败了，得研究一下原因。Wǒmen qiúduì
yòu bài le, děi yánjiū yíxià yuányīn. Our (ball) team was defeated again. We’ve got to look into the
reason.
bàihuài 败坏 V ruin, corrupt 道德败坏 dàodé bàihuài rotten morals
bài 拜 V do obeisance, pay respect to
bàifǎng 拜访 [comp: 拜 pay respect + 访 visit] V pay a visit (to a senior person), make a courtesy call
bài nián 拜年 V pay a New Year’s call, wish a Happy New Year
bàituō 拜托 V humbly request (somebody to do something)
bān 班 N 1 class (in school) ■ 我们班有十二个 男生，十四个女生。Wǒmen bān yǒu shí’èr ge
nánshēng, shísì ge nǚshēng. Our class has twelve male students and fourteen female students. 2
shift (in a workplace) ■ 这位护士上个星期上 白天班，这个星期上夜班。Zhè wèi hùshi shàng
ge xīngqī shàng báitiān bān, zhège xīngqī shàng yèbān. This nurse was on day shift last week, and
is on night shift this week. ■ 我妈妈每天 九点上班，五点下班。Wǒ māma měi tiān jiǔ diǎn
shàngbān, wǔ diǎn xiàbān. My mother goes to work at nine o’clock and leaves work at five o’clock.
加班 jiābān work overtime / 上班 shàngbān go to work / 下班 xiàbān leave work
bānzhǎng 班长 [modif: 班 class, squad + 长 leader] N leader (of a class in school, a squad in the army,
etc.) ■ 你打算选谁当班长？ Nǐ dǎsuàn xuǎn shéi dāng bānzhǎng? Whom are you going to elect
as class monitor?
bān 搬 V move (heavy objects) ■ 我们把这张桌子 搬到房间外面去吧。Wǒmen bǎ zhè zhāng zhuōzi
bān dào fángjiān wàimiàn qù ba. Let’s move this table out of the room. 搬不动 bān bu dòng cannot
move/cannot be moved / 搬得动 bān de dòng can move/can be moved
bānjiā 搬家 V & N move (house); house moving ■ 我们这个周末搬家，有几位朋友来帮忙。 Wǒmen
zhège zhōumò bānjiā, yǒu jǐ wèi péngyou lái bāngmáng. We’re moving house this weekend. Some