流 (liú): to flow
流 (liú) is a Chinese character meaning “to flow.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 㐬 (phonetic). It ranks #396 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 流 water. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).
Definitions
- to flow
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 流 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 流
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 交流verb | jiāo liú | to exchange | 4 |
| 流行verb | liú xíng | (of a contagious disease etc) to spread | 4 |
| 一流adjective | yī liú | top quality | 6 |
| 流感noun | liú gǎn | flu | 5 |
| 流动verb | liú dòng | to flow | 6 |
| 流传verb | liú chuán | to spread | 5 |
| 潮流noun | cháo liú | tide | 6 |
| 河流noun | hé liú | river | 5 |
| 轮流verb | lún liú | to alternate | 6 |
| 水流noun | shuǐ liú | river | 6 |
| 流程noun | liú chéng | course | 6 |
| 主流noun | zhǔ liú | main stream (of a river) | 6 |
| 流通verb | liú tōng | to circulate | 6 |
| 流利adjective | liú lì | fluent | 4 |
| 流入verb | liú rù | to flow into | 6 |
| 流量noun | liú liàng | flow rate | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 流血verb | liú xuè | to bleed |
| 流氓noun | liú máng | rogue |
| 流放verb | liú fàng | to exile |
| 流浪汉noun | liú làng hàn | tramp |
| 流浪verb | liú làng | to drift about |
| 流泪verb | liú lèi | to shed tears |
| 电流noun | diàn liú | an electric current |
| 流逝verb | liú shì | (of time) to pass |
| 下流 | xià liú | lower course of a river |
| 风流adjective | fēng liú | distinguished and accomplished |
| 流产verb | liú chǎn | to have a miscarriage |
| 流言noun | liú yán | rumor |
| 流浪者 | liú làng zhě | rover |
| 流畅adjective | liú chàng | flowing (of speech, writing) |
| 流露verb | liú lù | to reveal (indirectly, implicitly) |
流 appears in 106 compound words: 46 as the first character, 53 as the last, and 1 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 流 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (41)
synonym of 付諸東流 /付诸东流 (fùzhūdōngliú, “to go in vain; to go down the drain; to be completely wasted”)
Showing 12 of 41 idioms containing 流.
Example Sentences
这条生产线每小时可以流出五百个成品，效率比以前提高了百分之二十。
Zhè tiáo shēngchǎnxiàn měi xiǎoshí kěyǐ liúchū wǔbǎi gè chéngpǐn, xiàolǜ bǐ yǐqián tígāo le bǎifēnzhī èrshí.
This production line can output five hundred finished products per hour, with efficiency increased by twenty percent compared to before.
年初二全国高速公路流量快速回升,午后车流持续保持高..
nián chū èr quán guó gāo sù gōng lù liú liáng kuài sù huí shēng , wǔ hòu chē liú chí xù bǎo chí gāo . .
Traffic volume on national expressways rebounded rapidly on the second day of the Lunar New Year, with high levels persisting throughout the afternoon.
中外交流|塞尔维亚举行系列新春庙会活动庆祝中国年
zhōng wài jiāo liú sāi ěr wéi yà jǔ háng xì liè xīn chūn miào huì huó dòng qìng zhù zhōng guó nián
International Exchange | Serbia Hosts Series of Spring Festival Fair Activities to Celebrate Chinese New Year
大年初一全社会跨区域人员流动量超2.1亿人次 全国..
dà nián chū yī quán shè huì kuà ōu yù rén yuán liú dòng liáng chāo . yì rén cì quán guó . .
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, cross-regional travel across the country exceeded 210 million trips.
大年初一暖心事!流浪28年,盐城阜宁东站派出所助流..
dà nián chū yī nuǎn xīn shì ! liú làng nián , yán chéng 阜 nìng dōng zhàn pā chū suǒ zhù liú . .
Heartwarming Story on New Year's Day! After 28 Years of Homelessness, Yancheng Funing East Station Police Station Helps Homeless Man...
上海首波大客流已抵达!外滩、南京路、豫园......客...
shǎng hǎi shǒu bō dà kè liú yǐ dǐ dá ! wài tān nán jīng lù yù yuán . . . . . . kè . . .
Shanghai's first wave of large crowds has arrived! The Bund, Nanjing Road, Yuyuan Garden... visitors...
今年流行什么款式的外套？
Jīnnián liúxíng shénme kuǎnshì de wàitào?
What sort of coats are in fashion this year?
密西西比河流经哪个城市？
Mìxīxībǐ Hé liú jīng nǎge chéngshì?
Through which city does the Mississippi River pass?
您觉得您无法与他人交流吗？
Nín juéde nín wúfǎ yǔ tārén jiāoliú ma?
Do you feel like you can't connect with other people?
他的英语多流利啊！
Tā de Yīngyǔ duō liúlì ā!
His English is very fluent!
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 氵 (water) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 流 (liú) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 流 and 梳?
How many strokes does 流 have?
What is the radical of 流?
What are the components of 流?
What are common words containing 流?
What characters sound the same as 流 (liú)?
Is 流 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 流 with real-time feedback
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