措 (cuò): to handle, to manage, to put in order
措 (cuò) is a Chinese character meaning “to handle.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (semantic) and 昔 (phonetic). It ranks #1146 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 措 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 handle
- to manage
- to put in order
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 措 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 措
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 不知所措phrase | bù zhī suǒ cuò | not knowing what to do (idiom) |
| 惊慌失措phrase | jīng huāng shī cuò | to lose one's head out of fear (idiom) |
| 措辞verb | cuò cí | wording |
| 措手不及phrase | cuò shǒu bù jí | no time to deal with it (idiom) |
| 手足无措phrase | shǒu zú wú cuò | at a loss to know what to do (idiom) |
| 举措noun | jǔ cuò | move |
| 失措verb | shī cuò | to be at a loss |
| 筹措verb | chóu cuò | to raise (money) |
| 措词 | cuò cí | wording |
| 向巴平措 | xiàng bā píng cuò | Qiangba Puncog (1947-), chairman of the government of Tibet (i.e. governor) 2003-2010 |
| 安全措施 | ān quán cuò shī | safety measure |
| 措大 | cuò dà | worthless scholar |
| 平权措施 | píng quán cuò shī | affirmative action |
| 措意verb | cuò yì | to pay attention to |
| 无措adjective | wú cuò | helpless |
措 appears in 34 compound words: 47 as the first character, 41 as the last, and 12 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 措 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (8)
panic-stricken (idiom); to be in a flustered state; also written 張惶失措|张惶失措
Showing 7 of 8 idioms containing 措.
Example Sentences
他措了一个电话，约朋友晚上一起吃饭。
tā cuò le yī gě diàn huà , yāo péng yǒu wǎn shǎng yī qǐ chī fàn .
He made a phone call to arrange dinner with his friends that evening.
桃园市图新措施 整合全市40分馆学生公共服务预约申请
táo yuán shì tú xīn cuò shī zhěng gě quán shì 4 0 fēn guǎn xué shēng gōng gòng fú wù yù yuē shēn qǐng
Taoyuan City's new measures integrate the city's 40 branches and students' public service appointment applications
涵盖校长推荐入学计划等5措施 直资议会夥港大助非本地生来港升学
hán gài jiào cháng tuī jiàn rù xué jì huá děng 5 cuò shī zhí zī yì huì 夥 gǎng dà zhù fēi běn dì shēng lái gǎng shēng xué
Covering 5 measures including the Principal's Recommendation Admission Scheme The DSS Council has partnered with HKU to help non-local students study in Hong Kong
...本地生来港升学 涵盖校长推荐入学计划等5措施
. . . běn dì shēng lái gǎng shēng xué hán gài jiào cháng tuī jiàn rù xué jì huá děng 5 cuò shī
... Local students coming to Hong Kong for further studies cover 5 measures including the Principal's Recommendation Admission Scheme
彭博示警 缓冲期过后祭301永久措施
彭 bó shì jǐng huǎn chōng qī guò hòu jì 3 0 1 yǒng jiǔ cuò shī
Bloomberg warns of permanent measures to sacrifice 301 after the buffer period
...2期部署短期推出 冀《预算案》推利好楼市措施
. . . 2 qī bù shǔ duǎn qī tuī chū 冀 yù suàn àn tuī lì hǎo lóu shì cuò shī
... The second phase of deployment will be launched in the short term, hoping that the "Budget" will promote measures that are good for the property market
这些措施可以预防疾病蔓延。
Zhèxiē cuòshī kěyǐ yùfáng jíbìng mànyán.
These measures can prevent the disease from spreading.
你们采取什么措施避孕？
Nǐmen cǎiqǔ shénme cuòshī bìyùn?
What methods of contraception are you using?
我们采取了强有力的预防措施。
Wǒmen cǎiqǔ le qiángyǒulì de yùfáng cuòshī.
We took strong measures to prevent it.
预防措施比真正的治疗更有效。
Yùfáng cuòshī bǐ zhēnzhèng de zhìliáo gèng yǒuxiào.
Preventive measures are much more effective than the actual treatment.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 措 (cuò) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 措 and 借?
How many strokes does 措 have?
What is the radical of 措?
What are the components of 措?
What are common words containing 措?
What characters sound the same as 措 (cuò)?
Is 措 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 措 with real-time feedback
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