略有收窄

lüè yǒu shōu zhǎi

slightly narrow down / slightly narrow

今年的外贸顺差略有收窄。

This year's trade surplus has slightly narrowed down.

Etymology

This is a standard modern Chinese compound phrase. 略 (lüè) means 'slightly', 有 (yǒu) means 'to have / to be', 收窄 (shōu zhǎi) is a common business term meaning 'to narrow (a gap, range, surplus etc.)', combined to describe a small degree of reduction in width, gap or scale.

Memory Aid

Break it into parts: 略 (lüè, sounds like 'lue' as in 'view' but with a falling tone) = slightly, 收 (shōu) = collect/narrow, 窄 (zhǎi) = narrow. Picture slightly pinching a gap closed to remember 'slightly narrow down'.

Collocations

贸易顺差略有收窄涨幅略有收窄差距略有收窄

Synonyms

稍有收窄略收窄

Antonyms

大幅扩大显著拓宽

Related Words

收窄略微差距