溜 (liū): to slip away, to escape in stealth, to skate
溜 (liū) is a Chinese character meaning “to slip away.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 留 (phonetic). It ranks #1900 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 溜 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 slip away
- to escape in stealth
- to skate
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 溜 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 溜走verb | liū zǒu | to slip away |
| 溜冰verb | liū bīng | ice skating |
| 一溜烟adverb | yī liù yān | like a wisp of smoke |
| 溜达verb | liū da | to stroll |
| 溜冰场noun | liū bīng chǎng | ice rink |
| 溜冰鞋noun | liū bīng xié | skating shoes |
| 滑溜adjective | huá liū | to sauté in sticky sauce |
| 溜之大吉phrase | liū zhī dà jí | to steal away |
| 灰溜溜adjective | huī liū liū | dull gray |
| 酸溜溜adjective | suān liū liū | sour |
| 溜号 | liū hào | (coll.) to slink off |
| 顺口溜noun | shùn kǒu liū | popular piece of doggerel |
| 溜须拍马phrase | liū xū pāi mǎ | to smooth whiskers and pat a horse's bottom (idiom) |
| 黑不溜秋phrase | hēi bù liū qiū | dark and swarthy |
| 灰不溜秋 | huī bu liū qiū | see 灰不溜丟|灰不溜丢 |
溜 appears in 54 compound words: 33 as the first character, 24 as the last, and 43 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 溜 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (8)
Example Sentences
这条溜流经三个省份，滋养了沿岸的农田。
zhè tiáo liū liú jīng sān gě shěng fèn , zī yǎng le yán àn de nóng tián .
This river flows through three provinces, nourishing the farmland along its banks.
NBA|当积狂轰43分退溜马 分手后化悲愤为力量 近9战场均近40...
N B A dāng jī kuáng hōng 4 3 fēn tuì liū mǎ fēn shǒu hòu huà bēi fèn wéi lì liàng jìn 9 zhàn chǎng jūn jìn 4 0 . . .
NBA | Deng scores 43 points to defeat the Pacers; turns heartbreak into strength after breakup; averaging nearly 40 points over the last 9 games...
马刺大胜溜马 文班亚马贡献20分助球队取胜
mǎ cì dà shèng liū mǎ wén bān yà mǎ gòng xiàn 2 0 fēn zhù qiú duì qǔ shèng
Spurs Rout Pacers; Wembanyama Scores 20 Points to Lead Team to Victory
NBA/交易后只出赛5场 溜马祖巴兹赛季报销
N B A jiāo yì hòu zhī chū sài 5 chǎng liū mǎ zǔ bā zī sài jì bào xiāo
NBA: After just five games following the trade, Pacers' Zubac is out for the season
北角失常内地男破坏城巴车窗 再抢车致溜后撼九巴 警赶至制服
běi jiǎo shī cháng nèi dì nán pò huài chéng bā chē chuāng zài qiǎng chē zhì liū hòu hàn jiǔ bā jǐng gǎn zhì zhì fú
North Point abnormal mainland man broke Citybus window and then snatched the car and shook the KMB after slipping The police rushed to the uniform
【厝内大小事】知路/红包开溜啦!呼叫福气侦探队
厝 nèi dà xiǎo shì zhī lù hóng bāo kāi liū lā ! hū jiào fú qì zhēn tàn duì
【Big and Small Things in the House】Know the Road/Red Envelope Open It! Call the Blessing Detectives
汤姆偷溜进了派对。
Tāngmǔ tōu liū jìn le pàiduì.
Tom snuck into the party.
你比较喜欢溜冰还是滑雪？
Nǐ bǐjiào xǐhuan liūbīng háishi huáxuě?
Which do you like better, skating or skiing?
过去我们每个周末都去溜冰。
Guòqù wǒmen měige zhōumò dōu qù liūbīng.
We used to go skating every weekend.
下班时间还没到，大家就想溜走。
Xiàbān shíjiān hái méi dào, dàjiā jiù xiǎng liūzǒu.
It still isn't time to leave work, and everyone wants to escape.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 氵 (water) component
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 溜 (liū)?
Is 溜 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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