停車 (tíng chē) literally combines 停 (tíng), meaning 'to stop', and 車 (chē), meaning 'vehicle' or 'car'. Together, they form a verb meaning 'to park (a vehicle)' — specifically the act of bringing a vehicle to a halt in a designated or appropriate location for temporary or extended stopping. It is commonly used in urban contexts, traffic instructions, signage, and daily conversation when referring to parking cars, motorcycles, or bicycles.

The term is neutral in register and widely understood across Mandarin-speaking regions. While it can technically apply to any vehicle, in everyday usage it most often refers to cars. Unlike English 'park', 停車 does not imply long-term storage — it simply denotes the action of stopping and leaving the vehicle unattended in a suitable spot, whether briefly at a curb or for hours in a parking lot.