贯 (guàn): to penetrate
贯 (guàn) is a Chinese character meaning “to penetrate.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 毌 (phonetic) and 贝 (semantic). It ranks #1469 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 贯 money. Its radical form 贝 (shell) appears in many related characters such as 贵 (guì, expensive), 负 (fù, to bear), 责 (zé, responsibility).
Definitions
- to penetrate
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 贯 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 贯
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 全神贯注phrase | quán shén guàn zhù | (idiom) to concentrate one's attention completely |
| 贯穿verb | guàn chuān | to run through |
| 连贯verb | lián guàn | to link up (disparate elements) |
| 满贯verb | mǎn guàn | to win every trick in a card game |
| 贯彻verb | guàn chè | to implement |
| 腰缠万贯 | yāo chán wàn guàn | lit. ten thousand strings of cash in money belt (idiom) |
| 恶贯满盈phrase | è guàn mǎn yíng | lit. strung through and filled with evil (idiom) |
| 如雷贯耳phrase | rú léi guàn ěr | lit. like thunder piercing the ear |
| 万贯noun | wàn guàn | ten thousand strings of cash |
| 贯通verb | guàn tōng | to link up |
| 横贯verb | héng guàn | horizontal traverse |
| 籍贯noun | jí guàn | one's ancestral home (registered place of family origin, typically inherited patrilineally and recorded in official d... |
| 融会贯通phrase | róng huì guàn tōng | (idiom) to integrate knowledge from various sources into a deep and coherent understanding of a subject |
| 万贯家财phrase | wàn guàn jiā cái | vast wealth |
| 贯注verb | guàn zhù | to concentrate on |
贯 appears in 36 compound words: 25 as the first character, 44 as the last, and 31 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 贯 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (12)
spirit reaches to the rainbow; full of noble aspiration and daring
to gain a thorough understanding of something by integrating knowledge from different areas
synonym of 家財萬貫 /家财万贯 (jiācáiwànguàn, “to be from a very affluent family; to have a very rich family”)
lit. ten thousand strings of cash in money belt (idiom); carrying lots of money; extremely wealthy; loaded
spirit reaches to the rainbow; full of noble aspiration and daring
to gain a thorough understanding of something by integrating knowledge from different areas
synonym of 家財萬貫 /家财万贯 (jiācáiwànguàn, “to be from a very affluent family; to have a very rich family”)
Example Sentences
学习要贯穿一生，不能停止。
Xuéxí yào guànchuān yìshēng, bùnéng tíngzhǐ.
Learning should last a lifetime; it cannot stop.
WTT新加坡大满贯│“港韩组合”陈颢桦/金娜英2:3憾负世...
W T T xīn jiā pō dà mǎn guàn gǎng hán zǔ gě chén 颢 桦 jīn 娜 yīng 2 : 3 hàn fù shì . . .
WTT Singapore Grand Slam│"Hong Kong and South Korea Combination" Chen Haohua/Kim Na Young 2:3 regret the world...
冬奥/日双人花滑“璃来龙”生涯金满贯 透露未来一起退役
dōng ào rì shuāng rén huā huá lí lái lóng shēng yá jīn mǎn guàn tòu lù wèi lái yī qǐ tuì yì
Winter Olympics/Japan pair figure skating "Lilailong" career golden slam revealed that they will retire together in the future
...A亚洲职业匹克球巡回赛赛程揭晓,香港大满贯赛将成为压轴赛事
. . . yà zhōu zhí yè pǐ kè qiú xún huí sài sài chéng jiē xiǎo , xiāng gǎng dà mǎn guàn sài jiāng chéng wéi yā zhóu sài shì
[Translation pending - quota exceeded]
孙颖莎等8名国家队球员晋级新加坡大满贯赛单打32强
sūn yǐng 莎 děng míng guó jiā duì qiú yuán jìn jí xīn jiā pō dà mǎn guàn sài dān dǎ qiáng
Sun Yingsha and eight other national team players advanced to the round of 32 singles at the Singapore Grand Slam
看那些踢球的队员们！他们真是全神贯注啊！
Kàn nàxiē tī qiú de duìyuán men! tāmen zhēnshi quánshénguànzhù ā!
Look at those guys play! They’re really getting stuck in!
她全神贯注地写着诗。
Tā quánshénguànzhù de xiě zhe shī.
She was absorbed in writing a poem.
雅妮和努亚全神贯注地听斯库拉说话。
Yǎ nī hé nǔ yà quánshénguànzhù de tīng sī kù lā shuōhuà.
Yanni and Nuja listened carefully to Skura.
一本好书会令你全神贯注，甚至忘掉周围和自己。
Yī běn hǎo shūhuì lìng nǐ quánshénguànzhù, shènzhì wàngdiào zhōuwéi hé zìjǐ.
A good book can completely absorb your attention, to the extent that you forget your surroundings and even your existence.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 贝 (money) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 贯 (guàn) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 贯 have?
What is the radical of 贯?
What are the components of 贯?
What are common words containing 贯?
What characters sound the same as 贯 (guàn)?
Is 贯 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 贯 with real-time feedback
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