缩 (suō): to shrink, to contract
缩 (suō) is a Chinese character meaning “to shrink, to contract.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 纟 (semantic) and 宿 (phonetic). It ranks #1296 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 缩 thread. Its radical form 纟 (silk) appears in many related characters such as 系 (xì, to connect), 累 (lěi, to accumulate), 绍 (shào, to continue).
Definitions
- to shrink, to contract
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 缩 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 缩
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 退缩 | tuì suō | to shrink back |
| 缩写 | suō xiě | abbreviation |
| 收缩 | shōu suō | to pull back |
| 浓缩 | nóng suō | to concentrate |
| 萎缩 | wěi suō | to wither |
| 缩减 | suō jiǎn | to cut |
| 蜷缩 | quán suō | to curl up |
| 畏缩 | wèi suō | to cower |
| 缩水 | suō shuǐ | to shrink (in the wash) |
| 缩影 | suō yǐng | miniature version of sth |
| 伸缩 | shēn suō | to lengthen and shorten |
| 压缩机 | yā suō jī | compactor |
| 紧缩 | jǐn suō | (economics) to reduce |
| 缩手缩脚 | suō shǒu suō jiǎo | bound hand and foot (idiom) |
| 畏缩不前 | wèi suō bù qián | to shrink back in fear (idiom) |
缩 appears in 80 compound words: 41 as the first character, 34 as the last, and 25 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 缩 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (7)
to curl up one's limbs (due to the cold); to be overcautious and constrained
Example Sentences
由于成本上升,公司决定缩减部分开支。
Yóuyú chéngběn shàngshēng, gōngsī juédìng suōjiǎn bùfen kāizhī.
Due to rising costs, the company decided to reduce some expenses.
春节9天连假冲击!永庆:2月房市交易“量缩近5成”
chūn jié tiān lián jiǎ chōng jī ! yǒng qìng yuè fáng shì jiāo yì liàng suō jìn chéng
The Spring Festival 9-day holiday impact! Yongqing: The volume of housing market transactions in February "shrank by nearly 50%"
美韩3/9自由护盾联合演习 对缩减规模有歧见
měi hán zì yóu hù dùn lián gě yǎn xí duì suō jiǎn guī mó yǒu qí jiàn
The U.S.-South Korea 3/9 Freedom Shield joint exercise has disagreements about the scale reduction
...手指都疼是怎么回事?是不是长期不用导致萎缩
. . . shǒu zhǐ dōu téng shì zěn má huí shì ? shì bù shì cháng qī bù yòng dǎo zhì wěi suō
... What's going on with your fingers hurting? Is it not necessary to cause atrophy in the long term?
中国资产大缩水 全球十大私募巨头难套现
zhōng guó zī chǎn dà suō shuǐ quán qiú shí dà sī mù jù tóu nán tào xiàn
China's assets have shrunk sharply, and it is difficult for the world's top ten private equity giants to cash out
...来了!台中女骶骨冒罕见巨型瘤 3个月神速缩小
. . . lái le ! tái zhōng nǚ 骶 gǔ mào hǎn jiàn jù xíng liú gè yuè shén sù suō xiǎo
...Here it comes! Rare Giant Tumor on Taichung Woman's Sacrum Shrinks Remarkably in Just 3 Months
金属冷却的时候会收缩。
Jīnshǔ lěngquè de shíhou huì shōusuō.
Metals contract when they cool.
她把头从窗户外缩回来。
Tā bǎ tóu cóng chuānghu wài suō huílai.
She withdrew her head from a window.
蜗牛缩进壳里去了。
Wōniú suō jìn qiào lǐ qù le.
The snail retreated into its shell.
这只蜗牛将触角缩了回去。
Zhè zhǐ wōniú jiāng chùjiǎo suō le huíqu.
The snail draws in its feelers.
Character Family
纟 Radical Family — Characters sharing the silk radical
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 缩 (suō)?
Is 缩 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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