炊 meaning and stroke order
Meal; to cook, to steam
How to write 炊, stroke by stroke
8 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 炊
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to cook food
How 炊 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Fire.
火 gives the meaning and 欠 hints at the sound.
Radical: 火 (fire), shared by 128 characters on this site.
How to remember 炊
炊 has fire 火 on the left and 欠 on the right, which is the sound part and pictures a person with an open mouth. Picture someone leaning over a fire, blowing on it with an open mouth to get the cooking going.
炊 (chuī) is a fairly formal or written word for cooking. In daily speech people say 做饭 (zuò fàn), and 炊 mostly appears in set words like 野炊 (yěchuī) and 炊烟 (chuīyān, smoke from cooking fires). Example: 周末我们去山里野炊。(Zhōumò wǒmen qù shān lǐ yěchuī.) We went to the mountains for a cookout on the weekend.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 炊 (chuī, to cook) with 吹 (chuī, to blow), because they share the sound and the 欠 part. Remember that 炊 has fire 火 for cooking, while 吹 has a mouth 口 for blowing.
Common words with 炊
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 野炊 | yěchuī | to cook a meal over a campfire (usu. for a group of people on an outing); cookout | HSK 7-9 |
炊 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 炊
How many strokes are in 炊?
炊 is written with 8 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 炊 mean?
炊 (chuī) means meal; to cook, to steam. A common word with it is 野炊 (yěchuī), meaning "to cook a meal over a campfire (usu. for a group of people on an outing); cookout".
How do you pronounce 炊?
炊 is pronounced chuī, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 炊?
The radical of 炊 is 火, which carries the idea of "fire". Dictionaries list 炊 under this radical.
Is 炊 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 炊 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Can I say 我在炊饭 to mean I am cooking?
No, that sounds unnatural in modern Chinese. Say 我在做饭 (wǒ zài zuò fàn) instead. 炊 is used inside fixed words rather than as a standalone verb.
What does the idiom 巧妇难为无米之炊 mean?
It means even a skilled cook cannot make a meal without rice (qiǎo fù nán wéi wú mǐ zhī chuī). People use it to say you cannot get something done without the basic resources.