堵 (dǔ): to block up (a road, pipe etc), to stop up (a hole), (fig.) (of a person) choked up with anxiety or stress
堵 (dǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “to block up (a road, pipe etc).” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 土 (semantic) and 者 (phonetic). It ranks #2227 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 堵 earth. Its radical form 土 (earth) appears in many related characters such as 在 (zài, to exist), 地 (dì, earth, ground), 场 (chǎng, field, place).
Definitions
- to block up (a road, pipe etc)
- to stop up (a hole)
- (fig.) (of a person) choked up with anxiety or stress
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 堵 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 堵
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 堵住 | dǔ zhù | to block up |
| 堵塞 | dǔ sè | to clog up |
| 拥堵 | yōng dǔ | (of traffic) to become congested |
| 围堵 | wéi dǔ | to blockade |
| 堵截 | dǔ jié | to intercept |
| 交通堵塞 | jiāo tōng dǔ sè | road congestion |
| 第四堵墙 | dì sì dǔ qiáng | the fourth wall (in theater, TV, film etc) |
| 阿堵物 | ē dǔ wù | (literary) (euphemism) money (literally, "this thing") |
| 七堵区 | qī dǔ qū | Qidu, a district of Keelung City 基隆市[Ji1 long2 Shi4], Taiwan |
| 堵床上 | dǔ chuáng shàng | (coll.) to catch an adulterous couple in the act |
| 回堵 | huí dǔ | (Tw) (of traffic) to be jammed |
| 堵死 | dǔ sǐ | to block (a road) |
| 堵塞费 | dǔ sè fèi | traffic congestion fee |
| 堵击 | dǔ jī | to intercept and attack (military) |
| 阿堵 | ē dǔ | (literary) (colloquial term of the Six Dynasties period 六朝[Liu4 Chao2]) this |
堵 appears in 20 compound words: 40 as the first character, 40 as the last, and 20 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 堵 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
这座古堵已经有两千多年的历史了。
zhè zuò gǔ dǔ yǐ jīng yǒu liǎng qiān duō nián de lì shǐ le .
This ancient city wall has a history of over two thousand years.
基隆捷运带动北五堵转型 智慧科技园区成大台北新门户
jī lóng jié yùn dài dòng běi wǔ dǔ zhuǎn xíng zhì huì kē jì yuán qū chéng dà tái běi xīn mén hù
Keelung MRT drives the transformation of the North Wudu Smart Technology Park into the new gateway of Taipei University
化学槽车擦撞护栏 国1五堵段回堵4公里
huà xué cáo chē cā zhuàng hù lán guó 1 wǔ dǔ duàn huí dǔ 4 gōng lǐ
The chemical tank truck collided with the guardrail and the five blocking sections of National 1 blocked 4 kilometers
...3龙井段惊魂!驾驶分心追撞缓撞车 车流回堵2公里
. . . 3 lóng jǐng duàn jīng hún ! jià shǐ fēn xīn zhuī zhuàng huǎn zhuàng chē chē liú huí dǔ 2 gōng lǐ
... 3 Longjing section is terrifying! The driver was distracted and slowed down the collision, and the traffic flow was blocked for 2 kilometers
日本高龄评论家拒绝断舍离 杂物堆家中一招堵住女儿嘴
rì běn gāo líng píng lùn jiā jù jué duàn shě lí zá wù duī jiā zhōng yī zhāo dǔ zhù nǚ ér zuǐ
Japan's elderly critic refuses to break away from the clutter pile at home to block his daughter's mouth
...连假最后一天 国道事故34件、局部路段回堵
. . . lián jiǎ zuì hòu yī tiān guó dào shì gù 3 4 jiàn , jú bù lù duàn huí dǔ
... On the last day of the holiday, there were 34 accidents on the national highway, and some road sections were blocked
我被交通堵塞耽搁了。
Wǒ bèi jiāotōngdǔsè dānge le.
I was delayed by a traffic jam.
市中心的交通都堵塞了。
Shìzhōngxīn de jiāotōng dōu dǔsè le.
Traffic downtown is all backed up.
我们黎明时起床以避开交通堵塞。
Wǒmen límíng shí qǐchuáng yǐ bìkāi jiāotōngdǔsè.
We got up at dawn to avoid a traffic jam.
每一堵墙都是一扇门。
Měi yī dǔ qiáng dōu shì yī shān mén.
Every wall is a door.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 堵 (dǔ) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 堵 and 下?
How many strokes does 堵 have?
What is the radical of 堵?
What are the components of 堵?
What are common words containing 堵?
What characters sound the same as 堵 (dǔ)?
Is 堵 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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