横 (héng): horizontal, across, crosswise
横 (héng) is a Chinese character meaning “horizontal.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 木 (semantic) and 黄 (phonetic). It ranks #1322 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 横 tree. Its radical form 木 (tree) appears in many related characters such as 本 (běn, (bound form) root), 机 (jī, machine, opportunity), 条 (tiáo, strip).
Definitions
- horizontal
- across
- crosswise
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 横 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 才华横溢phrase | cái huá héng yì | brimming over with talent (esp. literary) |
| 横穿verb | héng chuān | to cross |
| 专横adjective | zhuān hèng | imperious |
| 横扫verb | héng sǎo | to sweep away |
| 横梁noun | héng liáng | beam |
| 横行verb | héng xíng | to go on the rampage |
| 横跨verb | héng kuà | to span |
| 横向adjective | héng xiàng | horizontal |
| 横幅noun | héng fú | horizontal scroll |
| 横冲直撞phrase | héng chōng zhí zhuàng | (idiom) to barge through, jostling and elbowing |
| 横财noun | hèng cái | easy money |
| 纵横adjective | zòng héng | lit. warp and weft in weaving |
| 蛮横adjective | mán hèng | rude and unreasonable |
| 横滨proper-noun | héng bīn | Yokohama (city in Japan) |
| 横渡verb | héng dù | to cross (a body of water) |
横 appears in 100 compound words: 88 as the first character, 7 as the last, and 5 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 横 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (27)
lit. furrowed brows and blazing eyes; to dart looks of hate at sb (idiom)
lit. furrowed brows and blazing eyes; to dart looks of hate at sb (idiom)
Showing 12 of 27 idioms containing 横.
Example Sentences
爷爷在门前种了一棵横苗，现在已经长得很高了。
yé yé zài mén qián zhǒng le yī kē héng miáo , xiàn zài yǐ jīng cháng dé hěn gāo le .
Grandpa planted a sapling by the door, and now it has grown very tall.
横眉冷看:一场长时间的战争
héng méi lěng kàn : yī chǎng cháng shí jiān de zhàn zhēng
Horizontal eyebrows look coldly: a long war
男子骑车出游经南横疑自撞护栏 坠边坡送医不治
nán zǐ qí chē chū yóu jīng nán héng yí zì zhuàng hù lán zhuì biān pō sòng yī bù zhì
The man was riding a bicycle through South Heng and was suspected of crashing into a guardrail and falling down a slope and was taken to hospital where he died
8岁男骑车游南横 撞护栏抛飞摔溪底亡
8 suì nán qí chē yóu nán héng zhuàng hù lán pāo fēi shuāi xī de wáng
An 8-year-old male rode a bicycle to the south and crashed into a guardrail and fell to the bottom of the stream and died
横跨东西非 周大观基金会颁生命奖章肯定人权...
héng kuà dōng xī fēi zhōu dà guàn jī jīn huì bān shēng mìng jiǎng zhāng kěn dìng rén quán . . .
Across East and West Africa, the Chow Tai Kwan Foundation awarded the Life Medal in recognition of human rights...
(新春走基层)福建屏南:古桥“万安”横碧水 乡宴“..
( xīn chūn zǒu jī céng ) fú jiàn bǐng nán : gǔ qiáo wàn ān héng bì shuǐ xiāng yàn . .
(New Year at the grassroots level) Pingnan, Fujian: Guqiao "Wan'an" Hengbi Water Township Banquet":
阿尔卑斯山脉横跨八个欧洲国家。
ā'ěrbēisī shānmài héngkuà bā gè ōuzhōu guójiā.
The Alps extend across eight European countries.
火车什么时候到横滨？
Huǒchē shénme shíhou dào Héngbīn?
What time does this train reach Yokohama?
我们绝不会接受这些横蛮无理的要求。
Wǒmen juébù huì jiēshòu zhèxiē hèngmán wúlǐ de yāoqiú.
We mustn't give way to these impudent demands.
横滨是日本第二大的城市。
Héngbīn shì Rìběn dì-èr dà de chéngshì.
Yokohama is the second largest city in Japan.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 横 (héng)?
Is 横 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 横 with real-time feedback
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