烧 meaning in English

shāo

to burn; to set on fire; to heat (over a fire); to boil (water, tea etc)

HSK 4verbTraditional 燒10 strokes

Meaning of 烧

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

shāo

to burn; to set on fire
to heat (over a fire); to boil (water, tea etc)
to braise
to cook; to prepare food
to run a fever
fever
(coll.) to become full of oneself; to get carried away

How to use 烧

烧 covers burning, heating with fire, and cooking, especially braising, as in 红烧肉 (hóngshāo ròu, red-braised pork). It also means boiling water and having a fever. Example: 我去烧点儿水。(Wǒ qù shāo diǎnr shuǐ.) I'll go boil some water.

烧 (shāo) has the fire radical 火 on the left, so think of flames on the side. The right part 尧 (yáo) gives the sound, and you can picture fire licking up its tall shape.

Common mistake: Learners often confuse 烧 (shāo) with 浇 (jiāo, to pour water on) and 晓 (xiǎo, to know), which share the same right side 尧. Check the left part: fire 火 for burning, water 氵 for pouring, sun 日 for knowing.

烧 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

他tā放fàng火huǒ烧shāo了le自zì己jǐ的de房fáng子zi。

He set fire to his own house.

我wǒ爸bà爸bà不bù喝hē太tài多duō的de烧shāo酒jiǔ。

My father doesn't drink too much sake.

看kàn完wán这zhè封fēng信xìn请qǐng把bǎ它tā烧shāo掉diào。

Burn this letter after you finish reading it.

著zhù名míng的de酒jiǔ店diàn几jī乎hū被bèi大dà火huǒ烧shāo毁huǐ了le。

The famous hotel was practically destroyed by a large fire.

我wǒ爸bà爸bà不bù喝hē多duō少shǎo烧shāo酒jiǔ。

My father doesn't drink so much sake.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

烧 shāo · to burn · 10 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 烧.

燃烧	ránshāo	to ignite; to combust
发烧	fāshāo	to have a high temperature (from illness); to have a fever; (fig.) to be fascinated with;
烧毁	shāohuǐ	to destroy (or be destroyed) by fire
烧烤	shāokǎo	barbecue; to roast
焚烧	fénshāo	to burn; to set on fire
烧死	shāosǐ	to burn to death
烧伤	shāoshāng	burn (injury)
火烧	huǒshāo	to set fire to; to burn down
烧焦	shāojiāo	to burn; to scorch
烧酒	shāojiǔ	name of a famous Tang dynasty wine; same as 白酒[bai2 jiu3]
燃烧弹	ránshāodàn	fire bomb; incendiary device
高烧	gāoshāo	(medicine) high fever

Questions about 烧

What does 烧 mean?

烧 (shāo) means "to burn; to set on fire; to heat (over a fire); to boil (water, tea etc)" and is used as a verb.

How do you write 烧?

烧 is made of 1 character: 烧 (10 strokes). That is 10 strokes in total.

Is 烧 an HSK word?

Yes. 烧 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How is 烧 written in traditional Chinese?

In traditional characters, 烧 is written 燒.

How do I say I have a fever using 烧?

Say 我发烧了 (wǒ fāshāo le), I have a fever. To say the fever is gone, use 退烧了 (tuìshāo le). 烧 alone can also mean fever, as in 高烧 (gāoshāo), a high fever.

What is the difference between 烧 and 燃烧?

燃烧 (ránshāo) is more formal and scientific, used for combustion or for feelings that burn strongly. 烧 is the everyday verb for burning something, cooking, or boiling water.