(chuí): hammer, mallet (variant of 槌[chui2])

(chuí) is a Chinese character meaning “hammer.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (semantic) and (phonetic). It ranks #3057 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, wood. Its radical form (tree) appears in many related characters such as (, wood/tree), (lín, forest, woods), (sēn, forest (dense)).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. hammer
  2. mallet (variant of 槌[chui2])

Etymology & Origin

pictophoneticwood

Decomposition: ⿰木隹 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

Practice writing with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
nounjǐng zhuīcervical vertebra6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
jǐ zhuīvertebra
zhuī gǔvertebra
yāo zhuīlumbar vertebra (lower backbone)
jǐ zhuī gǔvertebra
zhuī jiān pánintervertebral disk
xiōng zhuīthoracic vertebra
jǐ zhuī dòng wùvertebrate
yāo zhuī jiān pánintervertebral disk
gǔ jǐ zhuī dòng wù xuévertebrate paleontology
yāo zhuī jiān pán tū chūslipped disk
yāo zhuī jiān pán tū chū zhèngherniated lumbar disk
wú jǐ zhuī dòng wùinvertebrate
jǐ zhuī dòng wù ménVertebrata, the phylum of vertebrates
jǐ zhuī zhǐ yā zhì liáo shīchiropractor
jǐ zhuī zhǐ yā liáo fǎchiropractic therapy
22
Total compounds
9
As first character
32
As last character
59
As middle character

appears in 22 compound words: 9 as the first character, 32 as the last, and 59 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

0.79733,933 co-occurrences
jǐng
0.5993,408 co-occurrences
0.55811,598 co-occurrences
yāo
0.4922,166 co-occurrences
wěi
0.4707,290 co-occurrences
bèi
0.4344,893 co-occurrences
xiōng
0.4341,512 co-occurrences
0.43017,856 co-occurrences
āo
0.426684 co-occurrences
gōng
0.4251,086 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

jǐzhuī dòngwùHSK 7+

vertebrate

noun

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这片森里生活着许多珍稀的野生动物。

zhè piàn sēn chuí lǐ shēng huó zhe xǔ duō zhēn xī de yě shēng dòng wù .

This forest is home to many rare wild animals.

TvbsMar 2026

30岁男腿麻数月!胸竟藏“巨大肿瘤” 医:近乎瘫痪

3 0 suì nán tuǐ má shǔ yuè ! xiōng chuí jìng zàng jù dà zhǒng liú yī : jìn hū tān huàn

30-Year-Old Man Suffers Leg Numbness for Months! "Massive Tumor" Found in His Thoracic Spine; Doctor: He Was Nearly Paralyzed

99 健康网Mar 2026

病会引起血压增高吗,了解关联关注身体状态

jǐng chuí bìng huì yǐn qǐ xiě yā zēng gāo ma , le jiě guān lián guān zhù shēn tǐ zhuàng tài

Can cervical spondylosis cause high blood pressure? Learn about the connection and pay attention to your physical condition.

TvbsMar 2026

久坐也NG!3动作恐致“间盘破裂” 医:这些症状快就医

jiǔ zuò yě N G ! 3 dòng zuò kǒng zhì chuí jiān pán pò liè yī : zhè xiē zhèng zhuàng kuài jiù yī

Sitting for too long is a no-no! 3 movements that may cause a "herniated disc"—Doctors advise: Seek medical attention immediately if you experience these symptoms

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

工人摔伤颈...怕被停工不叫救护车、没通报劳检 公...

gōng rén shuāi shāng jǐng chuí . . . pà bèi tíng gōng bù jiào jiù hù chē , méi tōng bào láo jiǎn gōng . . .

The worker fell and injured his cervical spine... Afraid of being stopped from work, not calling an ambulance, not notifying the labor inspection...

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

...折不只是意外 背后恐藏隐形推手 手腕、脊与髋部尤其要注意

. . . zhé bù zhī shì yì wài bèi hòu kǒng zàng yǐn xíng tuī shǒu shǒu wàn , jǐ chuí yǔ 髋 bù yóu qí yāo zhù yì

... Folding is not just an accident, there may be an invisible pusher behind the wrist, spine and hips, especially pay attention

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 椎 (chuí) mean in Chinese?
椎 (chuí) primarily means "hammer." It is classified as HSK Level 6, making it an advanced character. It ranks #3057 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 椎 and 推?
椎 (chuí) and 推 (tuī) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 木 vs 扌 (same 隹 component).
How many strokes does 椎 have?
椎 is written with 12 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 椎?
The radical associated with 椎 is 木 (tree). This radical appears in many characters related to tree.
What are the components of 椎?
椎 is composed of: 木 (semantic), 隹 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰木隹 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 椎?
Common words with 椎 include: 脊椎 (jǐ zhuī, "vertebra"); 椎骨 (zhuī gǔ, "vertebra"); 颈椎 (jǐng zhuī, "cervical vertebra"); 腰椎 (yāo zhuī, "lumbar vertebra (lower backbone)"); 脊椎骨 (jǐ zhuī gǔ, "vertebra"). There are over 22 compound words containing this character.
Is 椎 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 椎 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.