束 (shù): to bind, bunch, bundle, classifier for bunches, bundles, beams of light etc, to control
束 (shù) is a Chinese character meaning “to bind.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 木 (structural) and 口 (structural). It ranks #997 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 束 lumber 木 bound by rope 口. Its radical form 木 (tree) appears in many related characters such as 本 (běn, (bound form) root), 机 (jī, machine, opportunity), 条 (tiáo, strip).
Definitions
- to bind
- bunch
- bundle
- classifier for bunches, bundles, beams of light etc
- to control
Etymology & Origin
ideographicLumber 木 bound by rope 口
Decomposition: ⿻木口 (layout: overlay)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 束 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 束
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 束缚verb | shù fù | to bind |
| 束手无策phrase | shù shǒu wú cè | lit. to have one's hands bound and be unable to do anything about it (idiom) |
| 装束noun | zhuāng shù | attire |
| 拘束verb | jū shù | to restrict |
| 光束noun | guāng shù | light beam |
| 无拘无束phrase | wú jū wú shù | free and unconstrained (idiom) |
| 花束noun | huā shù | bouquet |
| 束手就擒phrase | shù shǒu jiù qín | (lit.) to submit to having one's hands tied and being taken prisoner (idiom) |
| 结束语noun | jié shù yǔ | concluding remarks |
| 约束力noun | yuē shù lì | (of a contract) binding (law) |
| 管束verb | guǎn shù | to exercise control over |
| 束之高阁phrase | shù zhī gāo gé | tied up in a bundle on a high shelf |
| 粒子束 | lì zǐ shù | beam of elementary particles |
| 电子束noun | diàn zǐ shù | beam of electrons |
| 维管束noun | wéi guǎn shù | vascular bundle (botany) |
束 appears in 53 compound words: 43 as the first character, 42 as the last, and 15 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 束 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (8)
to fold one's hands and helplessly await death; to give oneself up for dead
to be at a loss what to do; to feel helpless in the face of some difficulty
Example Sentences
她手里拿着一束鲜花，笑容满面。
Tā shǒu lǐ názhe yī shù xiānhuā, xiàoróng mǎnmiàn.
She held a bouquet of fresh flowers in her hand, her face full of smiles.
“30岁了还因假期结束而哭” 专家:这不是矫情,而是身体在求救...
3 0 suì le hái yīn jiǎ qī jié shù ér kū zhuān jiā : zhè bù shì jiǎo qíng , ér shì shēn tǐ zài qiú jiù . . .
"I'm crying because I'm 30 years old because the holiday is over" Expert: This is not hypocrisy, but the body is asking for help...
“30岁了还因假期结束而哭” 心理专家:属于节后综合征
3 0 suì le hái yīn jiǎ qī jié shù ér kū xīn lǐ zhuān jiā : shǔ yú jié hòu zèng gě zhēng
"I'm 30 years old and still crying because the holidays are over" Psychologist: It belongs to post-holiday syndrome
...失效 中钢董事长黄建智:关税战不会因此结束 恐更严厉
. . . shī xiào zhōng gāng dǒng shì cháng huáng jiàn zhì : guān shuì zhàn bù huì yīn cǐ jié shù kǒng gēng yán lì
... Failure Huang Jianzhi, chairman of China Steel: The tariff war will not end because of this, and it may be more severe
美伊谈判结束后,白宫放话:外交手段是特朗普首选,但....
měi yī tán pàn jié shù hòu , bái gōng fàng huà wài jiāo shǒu duàn shì tè lǎng pǔ shǒu xuǎn , dàn . . . .
After the end of the U.S.-Iraq talks, the White House let it be known: diplomacy is Trump's first choice, but ....
资讯很有料|伊美第二轮谈判结束 是伊方期待的“机会..
zī xùn hěn yǒu liào yī měi dì èr lún tán pàn jié shù shì yī fāng qī dāi de jī huì . .
News is very informative|The second round of Iran-US talks is the "opportunity" that the Iranian side expects to...
外交谈判帮助结束了冲突。
Wàijiāo tánpàn bāngzhù jiéshù le chōngtū.
Diplomatic dialogue helped put an end to the conflict.
你该结束这种愚蠢的行为了。
Nǐ gāi jiéshù zhèzhǒng yúchǔn de xíngwéi le.
You must put an end to this foolish behavior.
她刚结束，就躺下打了个盹儿。
Tā gāng jiéshù, jiù tǎngxià dǎ le gè dǔn r.
The moment she'd finished, she lay down for a nap.
典礼结束时，新人接了吻。
Diǎnlǐ jiéshù shí, xīnrén jiē le wěn.
At the end of the ceremony, the new couple kissed.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 束 (shù)?
Is 束 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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