Meaning of 肿
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to swell
- swelling
- swollen
How to use 肿
肿 is used for body parts that swell from injury, illness or crying, often with 了 to show the change has happened. Example: 我的脚肿了。(Wǒ de jiǎo zhǒng le.) My foot is swollen. In medical words it appears in 肿瘤 (zhǒngliú, tumor) and 肿块 (zhǒngkuài, lump).
肿 (zhǒng) has 月 on the left, which in body words means flesh, and 中 (zhōng, middle) on the right, which also hints at the sound. Picture a body part puffing up in the middle and you have "swollen."
Common mistake: Learners often say it with first tone like 中 (zhōng), but 肿 is third tone, zhǒng. Also do not mix it up with 种 (zhǒng, kind; seed), which has the same sound but uses the grain radical 禾 instead of 月.
肿 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.
肿 zhǒng · to swell · 8 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Related words
Words that share a character with 肿.
| 肿瘤 | zhǒngliú | tumor |
| 肿胀 | zhǒngzhàng | swelling; oedema |
| 肿块 | zhǒngkuài | swelling; growth |
Questions about 肿
What does 肿 mean?
肿 (zhǒng) means "to swell; swelling" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 肿?
肿 is made of 1 character: 肿 (8 strokes). That is 8 strokes in total.
Is 肿 an HSK word?
Yes. 肿 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 肿 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 肿 is written 腫.
How do I say my eyes are puffy from crying in Chinese?
You can say 眼睛哭肿了 (yǎnjing kū zhǒng le), meaning "my eyes are swollen from crying." The verb 哭 comes first and 肿 shows the result.
What is the difference between 肿 and 肿胀?
肿 is the everyday word and works alone, as in 手肿了 (shǒu zhǒng le). 肿胀 (zhǒngzhàng) is more formal or medical and usually describes the condition of swelling, as in a doctor's report.