measure word for meals; to pause
HSK level
顿 is written with 10 strokes. The animation replays automatically.
顿 (dùn) is most commonly a measure word (classifier) for meals and, by extension, for bouts of scolding, beating, or persuasion — anything that happens as one 'session': 一顿饭 ('a meal'), 三顿饭 ('three meals a day'), 骂了一顿 ('gave a good scolding'), 打了一顿 ('gave a beating').
This bout sense is what surprises English speakers: 顿 counts an episode of an action, often a heavy or emotional one, where English would say 'a good telling-off' or 'a round of.' As a verb, 顿 means 'to pause' or 'to stop briefly' (停顿 tíngdùn, 'to pause'), and it appears in 顿时 (dùnshí, 'suddenly / at once').
It is neutral in register. When counting meals it is the default and only natural classifier — you always say 一顿饭, never 一个饭.
我一天吃三顿饭。
Wǒ yì tiān chī sān dùn fàn.
I eat three meals a day.
spoken
今天这顿饭我请客。
Jīntiān zhè dùn fàn wǒ qǐngkè.
This meal is on me today.
spoken
他被老板骂了一顿。
Tā bèi lǎobǎn mà le yí dùn.
He got a good scolding from the boss.
spoken
说到这里，他顿了一下。
Shuō dào zhèlǐ, tā dùn le yíxià.
Reaching this point, he paused for a moment.
written
餐 also counts/refers to meals (一日三餐, 'three meals a day') but is more formal and written. 顿 is the everyday spoken classifier for a meal (一顿饭).
吨 (dūn) is 'ton,' the unit of weight — same shape family but different tone and the 口 mouth radical. 顿 (dùn) counts meals and bouts. Don't mix the weight unit with the meal classifier.
钝 (dùn) means 'blunt / dull' (刀很钝, 'the knife is dull') with the 金 metal radical. Same sound as 顿 but unrelated meaning.
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