Meaning of 肠
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- intestines
- old variant of 腸|肠[chang2]
How to use 肠
On its own 肠 means intestines, but in daily life you will see it most in food words like 香肠 (xiāngcháng, sausage) and health words like 肠胃 (chángwèi, digestive system). It also appears in words about a person's heart or character, such as 心肠 (xīncháng). Example: 我肠胃不太好。(Wǒ chángwèi bú tài hǎo.) My stomach isn't very good.
肠 (cháng) has the flesh radical 月 on the left, which marks body parts, and 𠃓 on the right, the same shape found in 场 (chǎng) and 汤 (tāng). Picture the curving strokes of 𠃓 as the long, winding tubes inside your body.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 肠 (cháng) with 场 (chǎng, field or place) and 汤 (tāng, soup) because they share the same right side. Check the left part: 月 means body, 土 means ground, and 氵 means water.
肠 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.
肠 cháng · intestines · 7 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 肠.
| 香肠 | xiāngcháng | sausage |
| 心肠 | xīncháng | heart; intention |
| 腊肠 | làcháng | sausage |
| 肠子 | chángzi | intestines |
| 肠胃 | chángwèi | stomach and intestine; digestive system |
| 铁石心肠 | tiěshíxīncháng | to have a heart of stone; hard-hearted |
| 直肠 | zhícháng | rectum (anatomy) |
| 肠道 | chángdào | intestines; gut |
| 饥肠辘辘 | jīchánglùlù | (idiom) stomach rumbling with hunger; very hungry |
| 灌肠 | guàncháng | enema; to give an enema |
Questions about 肠
What does 肠 mean?
肠 (cháng) means "intestines" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 肠?
肠 is made of 1 character: 肠 (7 strokes). That is 7 strokes in total.
Is 肠 an HSK word?
Yes. 肠 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 肠 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 肠 is written 腸.
What is the difference between 香肠 and 腊肠?
Both mean sausage. 香肠 (xiāngcháng) is the general word, while 腊肠 (làcháng) usually means dried, cured Chinese-style sausage, the kind often cooked with rice.
Does 心肠 mean the heart as an organ?
No. 心肠 (xīncháng) describes a person's heart in the sense of character or intentions, for example 好心肠 (hǎo xīncháng), kind-hearted. The idiom 铁石心肠 (tiěshí xīncháng) describes someone with a heart of stone.