肿 meaning and stroke order
To swell; swelling; swollen
How to write 肿, 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 肿
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to swell
- swelling
- swollen
How 肿 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Flesh.
⺼ gives the meaning and 中 hints at the sound.
Radical: ⺼ (meat), shared by 176 characters on this site.
How to remember 肿
The left side ⺼ means flesh, and 中 (zhōng) gives the sound. Picture flesh puffing up right in the middle, and you have 肿 (zhǒng), swollen.
肿 is used for body parts that puff up from injury, illness, or crying, often as 肿了 to say something has become swollen. It also appears in medical words like 肿瘤 (zhǒngliú, tumor). Example: 我的脚肿了。(Wǒ de jiǎo zhǒng le.) My foot is swollen.
Common mistake: Learners often read 肿 with the first tone like 中 (zhōng), but it is third tone, zhǒng. Also do not confuse it with 种 (zhǒng, kind; seed), which has the grain radical 禾 instead of flesh ⺼.
Common words with 肿
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 肿瘤 | zhǒngliú | tumor | HSK 7-9 |
| 肿胀 | zhǒngzhàng | swelling; oedema | |
| 肿块 | zhǒngkuài | swelling; growth |
肿 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 肿
How many strokes are in 肿?
肿 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 肿 mean?
肿 (zhǒng) means to swell; swelling; swollen. A common word with it is 肿瘤 (zhǒngliú), meaning "tumor".
How do you pronounce 肿?
肿 is pronounced zhǒng, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 肿?
The radical of 肿 is ⺼, which carries the idea of "meat". Dictionaries list 肿 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 肿?
The traditional form of 肿 is 腫. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 肿 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 肿 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 肿 is part of the HSK 6 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do I say my eyes are puffy from crying in Chinese?
You can say 眼睛哭肿了 (yǎnjing kū zhǒng le), literally the eyes became swollen from crying. The verb plus 肿 pattern shows the cause of the swelling.
What is the difference between 肿 and 肿胀?
肿 is the everyday single word, common in speech like 腿肿了. 肿胀 (zhǒngzhàng) is more formal and descriptive, often used in medical or written contexts to mean swelling or oedema.