烧 (shāo): to burn, to cook
烧 (shāo) is a Chinese character meaning “to burn, to cook.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 火 (semantic) and 尧 (phonetic). It ranks #1196 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 烧 fire. Its radical form 火 (fire) appears in many related characters such as 火 (huǒ, fire), 灯 (dēng, lamp, light), 烟 (yān, smoke).
Definitions
- to burn, to cook
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 烧 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 烧
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 燃烧verb | rán shāo | to ignite | 5 |
| 发烧verb | fā shāo | to have a high temperature (from illness) | 3 |
| 烧烤noun | shāo kǎo | barbecue | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 烧伤 | shāo shāng | burn (injury) |
| 烧毁 | shāo huǐ | to destroy (or be destroyed) by fire |
| 火烧 | huǒ shāo | to set fire to |
| 焚烧 | fén shāo | to burn |
| 烧酒 | shāo jiǔ | name of a famous Tang dynasty wine |
| 高烧 | gāo shāo | fever |
| 燃烧弹 | rán shāo dàn | fire bomb |
| 退烧 | tuì shāo | to reduce a fever |
| 烧灼 | shāo zhuó | to burn |
| 烧夷弹 | shāo yí dàn | incendiary bomb |
| 引火烧身 | yǐn huǒ shāo shēn | to invite trouble |
| 红烧 | hóng shāo | to braise in soy sauce until reddish-brown |
| 烧瓶 | shāo píng | laboratory flask |
| 烧杯 | shāo bēi | beaker (glassware) |
| 烧香 | shāo xiāng | to burn incense |
烧 appears in 97 compound words: 56 as the first character, 24 as the last, and 21 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 烧 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (5)
to choose which Buddha to burn incense to (idiom); fig. to curry favor from the right person
Showing 4 of 5 idioms containing 烧.
Example Sentences
厨师需要掌握不同食材的烧制时间，才能保证菜品的口感。
Chúshī xūyào zhǎngwò bùtóng shícái de shāozhì shíjiān, cáinéng bǎozhèng càipǐn de kǒugǎn.
Chefs need to master the cooking times for different ingredients to ensure the texture of dishes.
...点心一律计小点 早午下午茶市都有 虾饺/烧卖/凤爪/叉烧包
. . . diǎn xīn yī lǜ jì xiǎo diǎn zǎo wǔ xià wǔ chá shì dōu yǒu xiā jiǎo shāo mài fèng zhǎo chā shāo bāo
... Dim sum is all counted as small orders, and there are shrimp dumplings/siu mai/chicken feet/char siu buns in the morning, afternoon and afternoon tea markets
独家》东京烧鸟职人台北inari Izakaya炫技...
dú jiā dōng jīng shāo niǎo zhí rén tái běi i n a r i I z a k a y a xuàn jì . . .
Exclusive" Tokyo Yakitori Craftsman Taipei inari Izakaya shows off his skills...
遗产战火烧10年 张国炜出招“撤换遗嘱执行人”
yí chǎn zhàn huǒ shāo 1 0 nián zhāng guó 炜 chū zhāo chè huàn yí zhǔ zhí háng rén
After 10 years of inheritance war, Zhang Guowei made a move to "replace the executor"
柴火灶里烧出的“团聚”,藏着最浓的奉贤年味丨有一种...
chái huǒ zào lǐ shāo chū de tuán jù , zàng zhe zuì nóng de fèng xián nián wèi 丨 yǒu yī zhǒng . . .
The "reunion" burned in the wood stove hides the strongest Fengxian New Year's flavor丨There is a kind of...
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 ...
你发烧和喉咙痛吗?
Nǐ fāshāo hé hóulóng tòng ma?
Do you have a fever and a sore throat?
消防车到达之前，房子就全烧了。
Xiāofángchē dàodá zhīqián, fángzi jiù quán shāo le.
The house burned to the ground before the fire truck arrived.
房子被大火烧成了灰烬。
Fángzi bèi dàhuǒ shāo chéngle huījìn.
The fire reduced the house to ashes.
汤姆一打开电视，保险丝就烧了。
Tāngmǔ yī dǎkāi diànshì, bǎoxiǎnsī jiù shāo le.
No sooner had Tom turned on the TV than the fuse blew.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 烧 (shāo) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 烧 and 晓?
How many strokes does 烧 have?
What is the radical of 烧?
What are the components of 烧?
What are common words containing 烧?
What characters sound the same as 烧 (shāo)?
Is 烧 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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