枢 (shū): (bound form) hinge, pivot (usu. fig.)
枢 (shū) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) hinge.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 木 (semantic) and 区 (phonetic). It ranks #2502 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 枢 tree. 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
- (bound form) hinge
- pivot (usu. fig.)
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 枢 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 中枢noun | zhōng shū | center |
| 中枢神经 | zhōng shū shén jīng | (anatomy) central nervous system |
| 枢纽noun | shū niǔ | hub (e.g. of traffic network) |
| 神经中枢 | shén jīng zhōng shū | (anatomy) nerve center |
| 枢机主教noun | shū jī zhǔ jiào | cardinal (of the Catholic Church) |
| 中枢神经系统noun | zhōng shū shén jīng xì tǒng | central nervous system, CNS |
| 流水不腐，户枢不蠹 | liú shuǐ bù fǔ , hù shū bù dù | lit. flowing water does not rot, nor a door-hinge rust (idiom) |
| 灵枢经 | líng shū jīng | Lingshu Jing (Divine Pivot, or Spiritual Pivot), ancient Chinese medical text (c. 1st century BC) |
| 交通枢纽 | jiāo tōng shū niǔ | traffic hub |
| 枢密院noun | shū mì yuàn | privy council |
| 要枢 | yào shū | important hub |
| 户枢不蠹phrase | hù shū bù dù | lit. a door hinge never becomes worm-eaten |
| 天枢proper-noun | tiān shū | Dubhe |
| 枢机noun | shū jī | cardinal (Catholicism) |
| 枢垣 | shū yuán | censorate |
枢 appears in 16 compound words: 38 as the first character, 25 as the last, and 38 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 枢 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
Example Sentences
工人们正在砍伐病枢，防止虫害蔓延。
gōng rén men zhēng zài kǎn fá bìng shū , fáng zhǐ chóng hài mán yán .
Workers are cutting down diseased trees to prevent the spread of pests.
虹桥国际开放枢纽 5年增逾兆GDP
hóng qiáo guó jì kāi fàng shū niǔ 5 nián zēng yú zhào G D P
Hongqiao International Open Hub to Add Over 1 Trillion Yuan to GDP in Five Years
伊朗重创中东能源命门!全球LNG核心枢纽遭袭,欧盟恐面临长久性能源缺口
yī lǎng chóng chuàng zhōng dōng néng yuán mìng mén ! quán qiú L N G hé xīn shū niǔ zāo xí , ōu méng kǒng miàn lín cháng jiǔ xìng néng yuán quē kǒu
Iran Strikes at the Heart of the Middle East’s Energy Supply! Attack on Global LNG Hub Leaves EU Facing Potential Long-Term Energy Shortage
男人勃不起是什么原因引起的呢?酗酒抑制中枢神经系统功能吗
nán rén bó bù qǐ shì shén má yuán yīn yǐn qǐ de ne ? xù jiǔ yì zhì zhōng shū shén jīng xì tǒng gōng néng ma
What causes men to have an erection? Does alcohol inhibit central nervous system function?
...花旗..若中东金融中心遭打击 增港星安全枢纽吸引力
. . . huā qí . . ruò zhōng dōng jīn róng zhōng xīn zāo dǎ jī zēng gǎng xīng ān quán shū niǔ xī yǐn lì
... Citigroup: If the financial center of the Middle East is hit, it will increase the attractiveness of the Hong Kong Star security hub
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 枢 (shū) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 枢 and 驱?
How many strokes does 枢 have?
What is the radical of 枢?
What are the components of 枢?
What are common words containing 枢?
What characters sound the same as 枢 (shū)?
Is 枢 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 枢 with real-time feedback
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