Meaning of 折
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to break
- to fracture
- to snap
- to suffer loss
- to bend
- to twist
- to turn
- to change direction
- variant of 折[zhe2]
- to fold
- to snap
- to break (a stick, a bone etc)
- (bound form) to sustain a loss (in business)
- to turn sth over
- to turn upside down
- to tip sth out (of a container)
How to use 折
折 (zhé) appears in many common words about breaking, folding, or losing value, such as 骨折 (gǔzhé) a bone fracture and 挫折 (cuòzhé) a setback. In shops you will see it all the time in 打折 (dǎzhé) to give a discount. Example: 这件衣服打八折。(Zhè jiàn yīfu dǎ bā zhé.) This piece of clothing is 20% off.
折 is made of 扌 (hand) and 斤 (an axe). Picture a hand using an axe to snap a branch in two, and you have the core meaning "to break" or "to bend."
Common mistake: Learners often read 打八折 as "80% off," but it means you pay 80% of the price, so it is 20% off. Also do not confuse 折 with 拆 (chāi, to take apart), which has an extra dot under 斤.
折 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.
折 zhé · to break · 7 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 折.
| 打折 | dǎzhé | to give a discount |
| 折磨 | zhémó | to torment; to torture |
| 骨折 | gǔzhé | to suffer a fracture; (of a bone) to break |
| 折腾 | zhēteng | to toss from side to side (e.g. sleeplessly); to repeat sth over and over again |
| 挫折 | cuòzhé | setback; reverse |
| 折扣 | zhékòu | discount |
| 折叠 | zhédié | to fold; collapsible; folding (bicycle, antenna, bed etc) |
| 转折点 | zhuǎnzhédiǎn | turning point; breaking point |
| 转折 | zhuǎnzhé | shift in the trend of events; turnaround |
| 曲折 | qūzhé | winding; (fig.) complicated |
| 波折 | bōzhé | twists and turns |
| 存折 | cúnzhé | passbook; bankbook |
Questions about 折
What does 折 mean?
折 (zhé) means "to break; to fracture" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 折?
折 is made of 1 character: 折 (7 strokes). That is 7 strokes in total.
Is 折 an HSK word?
Yes. 折 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why does 折 have three different pronunciations?
Most words use zhé, as in 折扣 (zhékòu). In speech, shé is used when something long snaps, like 绳子折了 (shéngzi shé le) the rope snapped. Zhē appears mainly in 折腾 (zhēteng), meaning to toss and turn or to do something over and over.
How do I say "fold paper" with 折?
Use 折 (zhé) directly with the object, as in 折纸 (zhé zhǐ), to fold paper or origami. You can also say 把信折好 (bǎ xìn zhé hǎo), fold the letter neatly.