Meaning of 吸毒
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to take drugs
How to use 吸毒
吸毒 is a verb-object phrase for using illegal drugs. It covers all drug use, not only smoking or inhaling, and it often appears in news, law, and public health warnings. Example: 他因为吸毒被抓了。(Tā yīnwèi xīdú bèi zhuā le.) He was arrested for taking drugs.
吸 (xī) means to inhale or suck in, the same 吸 as in 吸烟 (xīyān, to smoke). 毒 (dú) means poison, as in 病毒 (bìngdú, virus), so 吸毒 is literally "to take in poison," which means to take drugs.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes use 吃药 (chī yào) or 药 (yào) to talk about illegal drugs, but 药 means medicine. For illegal drugs use 毒品 (dúpǐn), and for using them use 吸毒.
吸毒 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
吸 xī · to breathe · 6 strokes
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毒 dú · poison · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 吸毒.
| 呼吸 | hūxī | to breathe |
| 吸引 | xīyǐn | to attract; to appeal to; to fascinate |
| 吸烟 | xīyān | to smoke |
| 吸收 | xīshōu | to absorb; to assimilate |
| 吸管 | xīguǎn | (drinking) straw; pipette |
| 病毒 | bìngdú | virus |
| 有毒 | yǒu dú | poisonous |
| 中毒 | zhòngdú | to be poisoned |
| 消毒 | xiāodú | to disinfect; to sterilize |
| 杀毒 | shādú | to disinfect; (computing) to destroy a computer virus |
| 毒品 | dúpǐn | drugs; narcotics |
| 吸取 | xīqǔ | to absorb; to draw (a lesson, insight etc) |
Questions about 吸毒
What does 吸毒 mean?
吸毒 (xīdú) means "to take drugs".
How do you write 吸毒?
吸毒 is made of 2 characters: 吸 (6 strokes), 毒 (9 strokes). That is 15 strokes in total.
Is 吸毒 an HSK word?
Yes. 吸毒 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Can I put words between 吸 and 毒?
Yes, because it is a verb-object phrase. You can say 吸过毒 (xī guo dú, have taken drugs) or 吸了三年毒 (xī le sān nián dú, took drugs for three years).
What is the word for a drug user or for quitting drugs?
A drug user is 吸毒者 (xīdúzhě). To quit drugs is 戒毒 (jièdú), and drug trafficking is 贩毒 (fàndú).