Meaning of 消毒
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to disinfect; to sterilize
How to use 消毒
消毒 is used for cleaning hands, surfaces, tools, wounds and water. It often appears with 给 or 用, or before nouns like 液 (liquid) and 柜 (cabinet). Example: 进门前请先消毒双手。(Jìn mén qián qǐng xiān xiāodú shuāngshǒu.) Please disinfect your hands before coming in.
消 (xiāo) means to eliminate or make disappear, as in 消失 (xiāoshī), and 毒 (dú) means poison or toxin, as in 病毒 (bìngdú). To disinfect is to make the poison disappear.
Common mistake: Learners often write 毒 (dú) with 母 at the bottom, but the bottom is 毋, with one stroke running straight through instead of two dots. Also keep the tones as first plus second, xiāodú, and do not say xiǎodú.
消毒 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.
消 xiāo · to diminish · 10 strokes
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- 2
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毒 dú · poison · 9 strokes
- 1
- 2
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Related words
Words that share a character with 消毒.
| 消息 | xiāoxi | (piece of) news; information; message |
| 消失 | xiāoshī | to disappear; to fade away |
| 取消 | qǔxiāo | to cancel; to call off; to revoke; to rescind |
| 消费 | xiāofèi | to consume (goods and services, resources etc) |
| 消化 | xiāohuà | to digest (food); (fig.) to absorb (information etc); to assimilate; to process |
| 病毒 | bìngdú | virus |
| 消除 | xiāochú | to eliminate; to remove |
| 有毒 | yǒu dú | poisonous |
| 中毒 | zhòngdú | to be poisoned |
| 消防 | xiāofáng | firefighting; fire control |
| 消极 | xiāojí | negative; passive |
| 消费者 | xiāofèizhě | consumer |
Questions about 消毒
What does 消毒 mean?
消毒 (xiāodú) means "to disinfect; to sterilize".
How do you write 消毒?
消毒 is made of 2 characters: 消 (10 strokes), 毒 (9 strokes). That is 19 strokes in total.
Is 消毒 an HSK word?
Yes. 消毒 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 消毒 and 杀菌?
杀菌 (shājūn) specifically means killing bacteria. 消毒 is broader and means disinfecting in general, against germs and viruses. In daily speech they often overlap, as in 消毒杀菌.
Can 消毒 take an object directly?
Yes. You can say 消毒餐具 (xiāodú cānjù, disinfect tableware). It is also common to say 给伤口消毒 (gěi shāngkǒu xiāodú, disinfect the wound) or 对房间进行消毒 in more formal language.