火 (huǒ): fire
火 (huǒ) is a Chinese character meaning “fire.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 丷 (structural) and 人 (structural). It ranks #433 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically pictographic, 火 flames. Its radical form 火 (fire) appears in many related characters such as 灯 (dēng, lamp, light), 烟 (yān, smoke), 烦 (fán, to feel vexed).
Definitions
- fire
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 火 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 火
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 火车noun | huǒ chē | train | 1 |
| 火灾noun | huǒ zāi | serious fire (in a city or a forest etc) | 6 |
| 着火verb | zháo huǒ | to catch fire | 4 |
| 火柴noun | huǒ chái | match (for lighting fire) | 6 |
| 火锅noun | huǒ guō | hotpot | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 开火 | kāi huǒ | to open fire |
| 火箭noun | huǒ jiàn | rocket |
| 火鸡noun | huǒ jī | turkey |
| 发火verb | fā huǒ | to catch fire |
| 火焰noun | huǒ yàn | blaze |
| 火炬noun | huǒ jù | (flaming) torch |
| 大火noun | dà huǒ | conflagration |
| 火星proper-noun | huǒ xīng | spark (from a fire) |
| 火花noun | huǒ huā | spark |
| 纵火verb | zòng huǒ | to set on fire |
| 火山noun | huǒ shān | volcano |
| 火力noun | huǒ lì | fire |
| 火腿noun | huǒ tuǐ | ham |
| 点火verb | diǎn huǒ | to ignite |
| 火车站noun | huǒ chē zhàn | train station |
火 appears in 114 compound words: 49 as the first character, 45 as the last, and 6 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 火 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (50)
erhua form of 拔火罐 (báhuǒguàn, “to have fire cupping therapy”); erhua form of 拔火罐 (báhuǒguàn, “removable stove chimney”)
to adopt a wrong method to save a situation and end up by making it worse
to defy all difficulties and dangers; to fear and shun no difficulties or dangers
(idiom) explosive mutual passion; blaze of passion (esp. between lovers)
to delay entering the fray until all others have been exhausted by fighting amongst themselves
erhua form of 拔火罐 (báhuǒguàn, “to have fire cupping therapy”); erhua form of 拔火罐 (báhuǒguàn, “removable stove chimney”)
to adopt a wrong method to save a situation and end up by making it worse
(idiom) explosive mutual passion; blaze of passion (esp. between lovers)
to defy all difficulties and dangers; to fear and shun no difficulties or dangers
Showing 12 of 50 idioms containing 火.
Example Sentences
厨房用火一定要注意安全，离开时必须确认火已经熄灭。
Chúfáng yòng huǒ yídìng yào zhùyì ānquán, líkāi shí bìxū quèrèn huǒ yǐjīng xīmiè.
When using fire in the kitchen, safety must be observed, and you must confirm the fire is extinguished before leaving.
阿福上春晚后爆火登顶AppStore:这4个宝藏用..
ā fú shǎng chūn wǎn hòu bào huǒ dēng dǐng zhè gě bǎo zàng yòng . .
Afu on the Spring Festival Gala after the explosion of fire topped the AppStore: these 4 treasures with...
浙江男子铁锅里泡澡,底下还烧着火,一个接一个!杭州..
zhè jiāng nán zǐ tiě guō lǐ pāo zǎo , de xià hái shāo zhe huǒ , yī gě jiē yī gě ! háng zhōu . .
Zhejiang man in the iron pot bath, underneath the fire, one after another! Hangzhou ...
守护万家灯火,90后山东小伙的萧山变电站除夕夜
shǒu hù mò jiā dēng huǒ , hòu shān dōng xiǎo huǒ de xiāo shān biàn diàn zhàn chú xī yè
Guarding the lights, 90 years after the Shandong boy's Xiaoshan substation New Year's Eve
...春走基层·驻外记者回乡手记丨在中国,感受火箭一飞..
. . . chūn zǒu jī céng zhù wài jì zhě huí xiāng shǒu jì 丨 zài zhōng guó , gǎn shòu huǒ jiàn yī fēi . .
Spring at the Grassroots Level: Overseas Correspondents' Homecoming Notes | In China, Witnessing a Rocket's Soaring Flight...
7500人闹社火、品尝汉代美食,一起解锁新年最潮打..
rén nào shè huǒ pǐn cháng hàn dài měi shí , yī qǐ xiè suǒ xīn nián zuì cháo dǎ . .
7,500 people celebrate with traditional folk performances and sample Han Dynasty cuisine, unlocking the trendiest New Year activities together.
你乘飞机还是乘火车去？
Nǐ chéng fēijī háishì chéng huǒchē qù?
Are you going by air or by train?
走着去火车站要多久？
Zǒu zhe qù huǒchēzhàn yào duōjiǔ?
How long does it take to walk to the station?
船和火车哪个跑得快？
Chuán hé huǒchē nǎge pǎo de kuài?
Which goes faster, a ship or a train?
请问火车站怎么走？
Qǐngwèn huǒchēzhàn zěnme zǒu?
How can I get to the train station?
Character Family
火 Radical Family — Characters sharing the fire radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 火 (huǒ) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 火 have?
What is the radical of 火?
What are the components of 火?
What are common words containing 火?
What characters sound the same as 火 (huǒ)?
Is 火 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 火 with real-time feedback
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