摧 (cuī): to break, to destroy, to devastate
摧 (cuī) is a Chinese character meaning “to break.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (semantic) and 崔 (phonetic). It ranks #2118 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 摧 hand. Its radical form 扌 (hand) appears in many related characters such as 手 (shǒu, hand), 打 (dǎ, hit, make), 找 (zhǎo, to look for).
Definitions
- to break
- to destroy
- to devastate
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 摧 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 摧毁 | cuī huǐ | to destroy |
| 摧残 | cuī cán | to ravage |
| 坚不可摧 | jiān bù kě cuī | (idiom) invulnerable |
| 无坚不摧 | wú jiān bù cuī | no stronghold one cannot overcome (idiom) |
| 兰摧玉折 | lán cuī yù zhé | premature death of a budding talent |
| 悲摧 | bēi cuī | grieved |
| 崩摧 | bēng cuī | to collapse |
摧 appears in 7 compound words: 29 as the first character, 57 as the last, and 14 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 摧 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (3)
Example Sentences
他摧起袖子,开始认真地打扫房间。
tā cuī qǐ xiù zǐ , kāi shǐ rèn zhēn dì dǎ sǎo fáng jiān .
He rolled up his sleeves and began cleaning the room thoroughly.
内塔尼亚胡:伊朗正被彻底摧毁
nèi tǎ ní yà hú : yī lǎng zhèng bèi chè de cuī huǐ
Netanyahu: Iran is being completely destroyed
...LNG设施 川普呛:“再犯”将遭前所未见摧毁
. . . L N G shè shī chuān pǔ qiàng : zài fàn jiāng zāo qián suǒ wèi jiàn cuī huǐ
...LNG facilities: Trump warns, "Another violation" will result in unprecedented destruction
...坏柬埔寨声誉” 总理洪马内:诈骗中心正在摧毁柬埔寨的经济
. . . huài jiǎn 埔 zhài shēng yù zǒng lǐ hóng mǎ nèi : zhà piàn zhōng xīn zhèng zài cuī huǐ jiǎn 埔 zhài de jīng jì
... Bad Cambodia's reputation" Prime Minister Hun Manet: The fraud center is destroying Cambodia's economy
最高法:缅北明家、白家两大犯罪集团被彻底摧毁
zuì gāo fǎ : miǎn běi míng jiā , bái jiā liǎng dà fàn zuì jí tuán bèi chè de cuī huǐ
Supreme People's Court: The two major criminal groups of the Ming family and the Bai family in northern Myanmar were completely destroyed
伊朗在该国东南部摧毁一恐怖组织团伙
yī lǎng zài gāi guó dōng nán bù cuī huǐ yī kǒng bù zǔ zhī tuán huǒ
Iran destroyed a terrorist group in the southeast of the country
小镇被暴风雨后的洪水摧毁了。
Xiǎozhèn bèi bàofēngyǔ hòu de hóngshuǐ cuīhuǐ le.
The town was destroyed by the flood after the storm.
恶魔摧毁了广岛和长崎。
èmó cuīhuǐ le Guǎngdǎo hé Chángqí.
The devil destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
无数次的失败摧毁了他的雄心壮志。
Wúshù cì de shībài cuīhuǐ le tā de xióngxīn zhuàngzhì.
His ambition was blasted by these repeated failures.
伦敦许多部份在十七世纪时被摧毁。
Lúndūn xǔduō bù fèn zài shíqī shìjì shí bèi cuīhuǐ.
Much of London was destroyed in the seventeenth century.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 摧 (cuī) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 摧 have?
What is the radical of 摧?
What are the components of 摧?
What are common words containing 摧?
What characters sound the same as 摧 (cuī)?
Is 摧 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 摧 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.