炊 (chuī): to cook food

炊 (chuī) is a Chinese character meaning “to cook food.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 火 (semantic) and 欠 (phonetic). It ranks #2878 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 炊 fire. Its radical form 火 (fire) appears in many related characters such as 火 (huǒ, fire), 灯 (dēng, lamp, light), 烟 (yān, smoke).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 火 fire8 strokesFrequency #2878火 semantic 欠 phonetic

Definitions

to cook food

Etymology & Origin

炊

pictophoneticfire

Decomposition: ⿰火欠 (layout: left-right)

Components:火semantic 欠phonetic

Stroke Order

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
炊事	chuī shì	cooking
野炊	yě chuī	to cook a meal over a campfire (usu. for a group of people on an outing)
炊具	chuī jù	cooking utensils
炊烟	chuī yān	smoke from kitchen chimneys
炊事员	chuī shì yuán	cook
巧妇难为无米之炊	qiǎo fù nán wéi wú mǐ zhī chuī	The cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice (idiom)
米已成炊	mǐ yǐ chéng chuī	lit. the rice has already been cooked (idiom)
炊器	chuī qì	cooking vessels (archaeology)
食玉炊桂	shí yù chuī guì	food is more precious than jade and firewood more expensive than cassia (idiom)
炊爨	chuī cuàn	to light a fire and cook a meal
炊帚	chuī zhou	pot-scrubbing brush, made from bamboo strips

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

炊 appears in 11 compound words: 64 as the first character, 27 as the last, and 9 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 炊 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

煮zhǔ

0.498300 co-occurrences

灶zào

0.44890 co-occurrences

烟yān

0.442246 co-occurrences

具jù

0.4151,110 co-occurrences

茶chá

0.415300 co-occurrences

厨chú

0.39248 co-occurrences

御yù

0.390342 co-occurrences

舵duò

0.38136 co-occurrences

事shì

0.3751,830 co-occurrences

锅guō

0.36636 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

米已成炊mǐyǐchéngchuīHSK 7+

the die is cast; what's done is done

phrase

食玉炊桂shí yù chuī guìHSK 7+

food is more precious than jade and firewood more expensive than cassia (idiom); the cost of living is very high

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

蜡烛的炊苗在微风中轻轻摇曳。

là zhú de chuī miáo zài wēi fēng zhōng qīng qīng yáo 曳 .

The candle's wick swayed gently in the breeze.

光明网_新闻视野、文化视角、思想深度、理论高度Apr 2026

炊烟与战火交织的抗战史诗

chuī yān yǔ zhàn huǒ jiāo zhī de kàng zhàn shǐ shī

An epic tale of the War of Resistance, where the smoke of cooking mingles with the flames of battle

UdnnewsindexMar 2026

燃气发电恐“断炊” 龚明鑫:可跟非中东产国或日韩调货

rán qì fā diàn kǒng duàn chuī 龚 míng 鑫 : kě gēn fēi zhōng dōng chǎn guó huò rì hán diào huò

Gas power generation may "cut off cooking" Gong Mingxin: You can transfer goods with non-Middle Eastern producing countries or Japan and South Korea

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 炊 (chuī) mean in Chinese?

炊 (chuī) primarily means "to cook food." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2878 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 炊 and 软?

炊 (chuī) and 软 (ruǎn) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 火 vs 车 (same 欠 component).

How many strokes does 炊 have?

炊 is written with 8 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 炊?

The radical associated with 炊 is 火 (fire). This radical appears in many characters related to fire.

What are the components of 炊?

炊 is composed of: 火 (semantic), 欠 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰火欠 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 炊?

Common words with 炊 include: 炊事 (chuī shì, "cooking"); 野炊 (yě chuī, "to cook a meal over a campfire (usu. for a group of people on an outing)"); 炊具 (chuī jù, "cooking utensils"); 炊烟 (chuī yān, "smoke from kitchen chimneys"); 炊事员 (chuī shì yuán, "cook"). There are over 11 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 炊 (chuī)?

Several characters share the pronunciation chuī: 吹 (to blow), 垂 (to hang (down)), 锤 (hammer), 捶 (to beat (with a stick or one's fist)). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 炊 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 炊 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 炊 with real-time feedback

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