Meaning of 蹲
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to crouch
- to squat
- to stay (somewhere)
- (dialect) to sprain one's foot or leg due to a sudden impact or landing
How to use 蹲
蹲 (dūn) describes squatting or crouching, and it is often paired with 下 as 蹲下 (dūnxià). Informally it can also mean to stay somewhere for a long time, often idly. Example: 他蹲在门口抽烟。(Tā dūn zài ménkǒu chōuyān.) He is squatting at the doorway smoking.
蹲 combines the foot radical 足 on the left with 尊 (zūn) on the right, which hints at the sound. Picture your feet folding under you as you lower yourself into a squat.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 蹲 (dūn, squat) with 坐 (zuò, sit). If your bottom is not resting on a seat or the ground, use 蹲. Also watch the right side: it is 尊 (zūn), not 遵 (zūn) or 樽 (zūn).
蹲 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.
蹲 dūn · to crouch · 19 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 蹲.
| 蹲下 | dūnxià | to squat down; to crouch |
Questions about 蹲
What does 蹲 mean?
蹲 (dūn) means "to crouch; to squat" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 蹲?
蹲 is made of 1 character: 蹲 (19 strokes). That is 19 strokes in total.
Is 蹲 an HSK word?
Yes. 蹲 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Can 蹲 mean staying somewhere, like staying at home?
Yes. In casual speech 蹲 can mean to stay somewhere for a while, often with a sense of being stuck or idle, as in 在家里蹲着 (zài jiā lǐ dūnzhe), staying cooped up at home. It sounds informal, so avoid it in formal writing.
When is 蹲 read as cún?
The reading cún is dialectal and means to hurt your foot or leg from a sudden impact, such as landing hard after a jump. In standard Mandarin you will almost always read it as dūn.