守 (shǒu): to guard, to defend, to keep watch
守 (shǒu) is a Chinese character meaning “to guard.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 宀 (structural) and 寸 (structural). It ranks #796 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 守 keeping something 寸 within one's walls 宀. Its radical form 宀 (roof) appears in many related characters such as 客 (kè, guest, customer), 家 (jiā, home, family), 它 (tā, it).
Definitions
- to guard
- to defend
- to keep watch
Etymology & Origin
ideographicKeeping something 寸 within one's walls 宀
Decomposition: ⿱宀寸 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 守 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 守
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 保守verb | bǎo shǒu | conservative |
| 防守verb | fáng shǒu | to defend |
| 守卫verb | shǒu wèi | to guard |
| 守护verb | shǒu hù | to guard |
| 看守verb | kān shǒu | to guard |
| 坚守verb | jiān shǒu | to hold fast to |
| 守则noun | shǒu zé | rules |
| 守护神noun | shǒu hù shén | protector God |
| 信守verb | xìn shǒu | to abide by |
| 守口如瓶phrase | shǒu kǒu rú píng | lit. to guard one's mouth like a closed bottle (idiom) |
| 守夜verb | shǒu yè | to be on all-night duty |
| 玩忽职守phrase | wán hū zhí shǒu | to neglect one's duty |
| 守法verb | shǒu fǎ | to abide by the law |
| 职守noun | zhí shǒu | duty |
| 守门员noun | shǒu mén yuán | goalkeeper |
守 appears in 100 compound words: 53 as the first character, 37 as the last, and 10 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 守 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (19)
to close off the country to the outside world and conduct no trade or exchanges with other countries
to rigidly adhere to old rules or traditions without willingness to change
to close off the country to the outside world and conduct no trade or exchanges with other countries
Showing 12 of 19 idioms containing 守.
Example Sentences
我在字典里查到了守字的详细解释。
wǒ zài zì diǎn lǐ chá dào le shǒu zì de xiáng xì xiè shì .
I looked up the detailed explanation of the character "守" in the dictionary.
...局”6 | 不想当“跛脚鸭”,特朗普能否守..
. . . jú 6 bù xiǎng dāng 跛 jiǎo yā , tè lǎng pǔ néng fǒu shǒu . .
... Bureau "6 | If you don't want to be a "lame duck", can Trump keep it?
跨越八百里守护 湘雅医院助超早产三胞胎平安回家团圆
kuà yuè bā bǎi lǐ shǒu hù 湘 yǎ yī yuàn zhù chāo zǎo chǎn sān bāo tāi píng ān huí jiā tuán yuán
Spanning 800 miles to protect Xiangya Hospital to help the ultra-premature triplets return home safely and reunite
...百县看中国·护航春运丨河北交通:智慧高速守护假..
. . . bǎi xiàn kàn zhōng guó hù háng chūn yùn 丨 hé běi jiāo tōng : zhì huì gāo sù shǒu hù jiǎ . .
... Hundreds of counties look at China and escort the Spring Festival丨Hebei Transportation: Smart highway guards the holiday:
致敬坚守者:宝山这些身影温暖了我们的团圆年|在宝...
zhì jìng jiān shǒu zhě : bǎo shān zhè xiē shēn yǐng wēn nuǎn le wǒ men de tuán yuán nián zài bǎo . . .
Salute to the perseverance: These figures of Baoshan warmed our reunion year|In Bao...
新春“不打烊”:梁山港的坚守与奋进
xīn chūn bù dǎ 烊 : liáng shān gǎng de jiān shǒu yǔ fèn jìn
New Year "not closed": Liangshan Port's perseverance and progress
不遵守承诺是可耻的。
Bù zūnshǒu chéngnuò shì kěchǐ de.
It is a shame not to keep your promise.
但他没有遵守承诺。
Dàn tā méiyǒu zūnshǒu chéngnuò.
But, he didn't keep his promise.
我希望吉姆会守规矩。
Wǒ xīwàng jí mǔ huì shǒuguīju.
I wish Jim would behave himself.
父母教育我要遵守承诺。
Fùmǔ jiàoyù wǒ yào zūnshǒu chéngnuò.
My parents teach me to abide by my promises.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 守 (shǒu)?
Is 守 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 守 with real-time feedback
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