竖 (shù): to erect, vertical, vertical stroke (in Chinese characters)
竖 (shù) is a Chinese character meaning “to erect.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), with radical 立 (stand). It ranks #2419 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 竖 a person 又 standing 立 as straight as a knife 刂. Its radical form 立 (stand) appears in many related characters such as 站 (zhàn, station), 立 (lì, to stand), 童 (tóng, child).
Definitions
- to erect
- vertical
- vertical stroke (in Chinese characters)
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA person 又 standing 立 as straight as a knife 刂
Decomposition: ⿱⿰刂又立 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 竖 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 竖起 | shù qǐ | to erect (a tent etc) |
| 竖琴 | shù qín | harp |
| 横竖 | héng shu | anyway |
| 竖立 | shù lì | to erect |
| 竖井 | shù jǐng | vertical shaft (for mining, ventilation systems etc) |
| 竖中指 | shù zhōng zhǐ | to give the middle finger |
| 横说竖说 | héng shuō shù shuō | to explain sth over and over again |
| 横三竖四 | héng sān shù sì | in disorder |
| 横挑鼻子竖挑眼 | héng tiāo bí zi shù tiāo yǎn | to pick on sth incessantly (idiom) |
| 竖起大拇指 | shù qǐ dà mu zhǐ | to give a thumbs-up |
| 竖起耳朵 | shù qǐ ěr duo | to prick up one's ears |
| 横七竖八 | héng qī shù bā | in disorder |
| 横竖劲儿 | héng shù jìn r | firmness of determination |
| 竖提 | shù tí | stroke𠄌 in Chinese characters (e.g. 以[yi3]) |
| 竖直 | shù zhí | vertical |
竖 appears in 25 compound words: 64 as the first character, 8 as the last, and 28 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 竖 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (5)
Example Sentences
我在字典里查到了竖字的详细解释。
wǒ zài zì diǎn lǐ chá dào le shù zì de xiáng xì xiè shì .
I looked up the detailed explanation of the character "竖" in the dictionary.
电子负载的铜管散热器必须竖着放,横着或倒着直接温度失控。
diàn zǐ fù zài de tóng guǎn sàn rè qì bì xū shù zhe fàng , héng zhe huò dǎo zhe zhí jiē wēn dù shī kòng .
他开始说他的秘密的时候，我们都竖起了耳朵来听。
Tā kāishǐ shuō tā de mìmì de shíhou, wǒmen dōu shùqǐ le ěrduo lái tīng.
We were all ears when he started to tell us his secret.
我跟那个芬兰竖琴手怀孕了，他就是我昨晚告诉你的那个人。
Wǒ gēn nàge Fēnlán shùqín shǒu huáiyùn le, tā jiùshì wǒ zuówǎn gàosu nǐ de nàgèrén.
I got pregnant from the Finnish harpist that I told you about last night.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 竖 (shù) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 竖 have?
What is the radical of 竖?
What are common words containing 竖?
What characters sound the same as 竖 (shù)?
Is 竖 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 竖 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.