磋 (cuō): (old) to polish bones, horns, ivory etc into tools, (bound form) to deliberate, to consult

磋 (cuō) is a Chinese character meaning “(old) to polish bones, horns, ivory etc into tools.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 石 (semantic) and 差 (phonetic). It ranks #2859 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 磋 stone. Its radical form 石 (stone) appears in many related characters such as 确 (què, certain, true), 碗 (wǎn, bowl), 碰 (pèng, to touch, to bump).

Spoken pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 石 stone14 strokesFrequency #2859石 semantic 差 phonetic

Definitions

(old) to polish bones, horns, ivory etc into tools
(bound form) to deliberate
to consult

Etymology & Origin

磋

pictophoneticstone

Decomposition: ⿰石差 (layout: left-right)

Components:石semantic 差phonetic

Stroke Order

Practice writing 磋 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
磋商verb	cuō shāng	to consult
切磋verb	qiē cuō	to compare notes
切磋琢磨phrase	qiē cuō zhuó mó	lit. cutting and polishing (idiom)
磋磨	cuō mó	to polish and rub

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

磋 appears in 4 compound words: 50 as the first character, 25 as the last, and 25 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 磋 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

商shāng

0.5363,616 co-occurrences

琢zhuó

0.50266 co-occurrences

切qiē

0.4891,146 co-occurrences

磨mó

0.38980 co-occurrences

互hù

0.388212 co-occurrences

贸mào

0.36950 co-occurrences

契qì

0.36419 co-occurrences

紧jǐn

0.34852 co-occurrences

轮lún

0.33368 co-occurrences

进jìn

0.333314 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

磋字在日常生活中使用频率较低。

cuō zì zài rì cháng shēng huó zhōng shǐ yòng pín lǜ jiào dī .

The character "磋" is not commonly used in everyday life.

WorldjournalFeb 2026

盼第6轮中美经贸“坦诚磋商”中:适时调整对美关税反制

pàn dì 6 lún zhōng měi jīng mào tǎn chéng cuō shāng zhōng : shì shí diào zhěng duì měi guān shuì fǎn zhì

I look forward to the sixth round of "frank consultations" between China and the United States: adjust tariff countermeasures against the United States in a timely manner

Irna ChineseFeb 2026

伊朗与阿曼就下一轮核谈判安排开展磋商

yī lǎng yǔ ā 曼 jiù xià yī lún hé tán pàn ān pái kāi zhǎn cuō shāng

Iran and Oman are negotiating arrangements for the next round of nuclear negotiations

東方日報Feb 2026

美日磋商延伸威慑聚焦中国增强核战力

měi rì cuō shāng yán shēn wēi shè jù jiāo zhōng guó zēng qiáng hé zhàn lì

U.S.-Japan negotiations extend deterrence and focus on China's enhancement of nuclear capabilities

百度新闻Feb 2026

安理会就利比亚局势展开磋商中方呼吁和平解决政治分..

ān lǐ huì jiù lì bǐ yà jú shì zhǎn kāi cuō shāng zhōng fāng hū xū hé píng jiě jué zhèng zhì fēn . .

Security Council Holds Consultations on the Libyan Situation China Calls for a Peaceful Settlement of Political Divisions:

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 磋 (cuō) mean in Chinese?

磋 (cuō) primarily means "(old) to polish bones, horns, ivory etc into tools." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2859 in character frequency.

How many strokes does 磋 have?

磋 is written with 14 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 磋?

The radical associated with 磋 is 石 (stone). This radical appears in many characters related to stone.

What are the components of 磋?

磋 is composed of: 石 (semantic), 差 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰石差 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 磋?

Common words with 磋 include: 磋商 (cuō shāng, "to consult"); 切磋 (qiē cuō, "to compare notes"); 切磋琢磨 (qiē cuō zhuó mó, "lit. cutting and polishing (idiom)"); 磋磨 (cuō mó, "to polish and rub"). There are over 4 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 磋 (cuō)?

Several characters share the pronunciation cuō: 搓 (to rub or roll between the hands or fingers), 错 (wrong, mistake), 措 (to handle), 挫 (obstructed). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 磋 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

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

Practice writing 磋 with real-time feedback

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