筹 (chóu): chip (in gambling), token (for counting), ticket, to prepare, to plan, to raise (funds), resource, way, means
筹 (chóu) is a Chinese character meaning “chip (in gambling).” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of ⺮ (semantic) and 寿 (phonetic). It ranks #1664 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 筹 bamboo. Its radical form 竹 (bamboo) appears in many related characters such as 笑 (xiào, to laugh), 第 (dì, (prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六 "sixth")), 等 (děng, to wait for).
Definitions
- chip (in gambling)
- token (for counting)
- ticket
- to prepare
- to plan
- to raise (funds)
- resource
- way
- means
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 筹 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 筹
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 筹码noun | chóu mǎ | bargaining chip |
| 筹款noun | chóu kuǎn | fundraising |
| 筹集verb | chóu jí | to collect money |
| 筹划verb | chóu huà | to plan and prepare |
| 筹资verb | chóu zī | to raise resources |
| 筹办verb | chóu bàn | to arrange |
| 更胜一筹 | gèng shèng yī chóu | superior by a notch |
| 一筹莫展phrase | yī chóu mò zhǎn | to be unable to find a solution |
| 筹建verb | chóu jiàn | to prepare to build sth |
| 筹措verb | chóu cuò | to raise (money) |
| 统筹verb | tǒng chóu | an overall plan |
| 运筹帷幄phrase | yùn chóu wéi wò | lit. to devise battle plan in a tent (idiom) |
| 略胜一筹phrase | lüè shèng yī chóu | slightly better |
| 觥筹交错phrase | gōng chóu jiāo cuò | wine goblets and gambling chips lie intertwined |
| 筹募verb | chóu mù | to raise funds |
筹 appears in 38 compound words: 61 as the first character, 16 as the last, and 24 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 筹 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (6)
Example Sentences
筹字的写法很特别，让我印象深刻。
chóu zì de xiě fǎ hěn tè bié , ràng wǒ yìn xiàng shēn kè .
The way the character "筹" is written is quite unique and left a deep impression on me.
分析师警告:特朗普与中国最高领导人峰会筹备工作严重滞后
fēn xī shī jǐng gào : tè lǎng pǔ yǔ zhōng guó zuì gāo lǐng dǎo rén fēng huì chóu bèi gōng zuò yán chóng zhì hòu
Analysts warn: Preparations for the summit between Trump and China's top leaders are seriously lagging behind
...宣光省委书记侯阿令谈祖国边疆“山河盛会”筹备工作
. . . xuān guāng shěng wěi shū jì 侯 ā lìng tán zǔ guó biān jiāng shān hé shèng huì chóu bèi gōng zuò
... Hou Aling, secretary of the Xuanguang Provincial Party Committee, talked about the preparations for the "mountain and river event" on the frontier of the motherland
立院开议、川习会将至 军售案恐成美中交易筹码?
lì yuàn kāi yì , chuān xí huì jiāng zhì jūn shòu àn kǒng chéng měi zhōng jiāo yì chóu mǎ ?
The Legislative Yuan is open, and the Trump-Xi meeting is coming, and the arms sales case may become a bargaining chip for the US-China deal?
国际小学堂/欧抗美并非无筹码 却易被分而治之
guó jì xiǎo xué táng ōu kàng měi bìng fēi wú chóu mǎ què yì bèi fēn ér zhì zhī
International Primary School/European Anti-American is not without chips, but it is easy to divide and rule
...被判违法...南华早报:3月川习会 华府筹码更少了
. . . bèi pàn wéi fǎ . . . nán huá zǎo bào : 3 yuè chuān xí huì huá fǔ chóu mǎ gēng shǎo le
... Judged to be illegal... South China Morning Post: The Sichuan-Xi meeting in March Washington has fewer chips
他正在筹备一次旅行。
Tā zhèngzài chóubèi yīcì lǚxíng.
He is making preparations for a trip.
她精心筹备了这个派对。
Tā jīngxīn chóubèi le zhège pàiduì.
She made elaborate preparations for the party.
这里正在筹划建设一座发电站。
Zhèlǐ zhèngzài chóuhuà jiànshè yī zuò fādiànzhàn.
Plans are being drawn up to build a power station here.
汤姆正在为玛莉筹备生日派对。
Tāngmǔ zhèngzài wèi mǎ lì chóubèi shēngrì pàiduì.
Tom is planning a birthday party for Mary.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the ⺮ (bamboo) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 筹 (chóu) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 筹 and 祷?
How many strokes does 筹 have?
What is the radical of 筹?
What are the components of 筹?
What are common words containing 筹?
What characters sound the same as 筹 (chóu)?
Is 筹 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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