洗 (xǐ): to wash
洗 (xǐ) is a Chinese character meaning “to wash.” Classified as HSK Level 2 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 先 (phonetic). It ranks #1241 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 洗 water. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).
Definitions
- to wash
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 洗 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 洗
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 洗手间noun | xǐ shǒu jiān | toilet | 2 |
| 洗澡verb | xǐ zǎo | to bathe | 3 |
| 清洗verb | qīng xǐ | to wash | 6 |
| 洗衣机noun | xǐ yī jī | washing machine | 3 |
| 洗漱verb | xǐ shù | to wash the face and rinse the mouth | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 洗手verb | xǐ shǒu | to wash one's hands |
| 洗礼noun | xǐ lǐ | (lit. and fig.) baptism |
| 洗衣verb | xǐ yī | laundry |
| 洗耳恭听phrase | xǐ ěr gōng tīng | to listen with respectful attention |
| 洗钱verb | xǐ qián | to launder money |
| 干洗verb | gān xǐ | to dry clean |
| 洗衣店noun | xǐ yī diàn | laundry (commercial establishment) |
| 洗衣房 | xǐ yī fáng | laundry room |
| 洗劫verb | xǐ jié | to loot |
| 冲洗verb | chōng xǐ | to rinse |
| 洗碗机noun | xǐ wǎn jī | dishwasher |
| 盥洗室noun | guàn xǐ shì | toilet |
| 梳洗verb | shū xǐ | to wash and groom oneself |
| 洗刷verb | xǐ shuā | to wipe clean |
| 擦洗verb | cā xǐ | to clean (with water or alcohol) |
洗 appears in 101 compound words: 69 as the first character, 26 as the last, and 5 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 洗 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (11)
Showing 10 of 11 idioms containing 洗.
Example Sentences
医院对手术器械的清洗消毒有严格的标准流程，必须严格执行。
Yīyuàn duì shǒushù qìxiè de qīngxǐ xiāodú yǒu yángé de biāozhǔn liúchéng, bìxū yángé zhíxíng.
Hospitals have strict standard procedures for cleaning and sterilizing surgical instruments, which must be strictly followed.
男生小便完甩一下后要不要洗手?接触生殖器后必须清洁吗
nán shēng xiǎo biàn wán shuǎi yī xià hòu yāo bù yāo xǐ shǒu ? jiē chù shēng zhí qì hòu bì xū qīng jié ma
Should boys wash their hands after urinating? Is it mandatory to clean the genitals after touching them?
《日出而作》關稅亂局復燃美股遭血洗,長和巴拿馬港口被強制接管
rì chū ér zuò 關 稅 亂 jú 復 rán měi gǔ zāo xiě xǐ , 長 hé bā ná 馬 gǎng kǒu bèi 強 zhì jiē guǎn
"Sunrise and Work" Tariff Turmoil Resurges as U.S. Stocks Suffer Massive Losses; CK Hutchison's Panama Port Forcibly Taken Over
洗蘋果別直接沖!沒做1事恐釀排水管癱瘓
xǐ 蘋 guǒ 別 zhí jiē 沖 ! 沒 zuò shì kǒng 釀 pái shuǐ guǎn 癱 瘓
When washing apples, don't just rinse them! If you don't do one thing, you could end up with a clogged drain pipe.
傳統採洗牡蠣費工費時 台南引進洗蚵機提升效率
傳 統 採 xǐ mǔ 蠣 費 gōng 費 時 tái nán yǐn 進 xǐ 蚵 機 tí shēng xiào lǜ
Traditional oyster cleaning is labor-intensive and time-consuming, and Tainan introduces oyster washers to improve efficiency.
洗面奶什么牌子好?聚焦公认好用的洗面奶年终...
xǐ miàn nǎi shén má pái zǐ hǎo ? jù jiāo gōng rèn hǎo yòng de xǐ miàn nǎi nián zhōng . . .
Which brand of facial cleanser is best? Focus on the year-end roundup of widely recognized top-rated cleansers...
你要干洗还是湿洗？
Nǐ yào gānxǐ háishi shī xǐ?
Do you want dry cleaning or regular wash?
你还没洗手，不是吗？
Nǐ hái méi xǐshǒu, bùshìma?
You haven't washed your hands yet, have you?
我可不可以早上洗澡？
Wǒ kěbu kěyǐ zǎoshang xǐzǎo?
May I take a shower in the morning?
你每个月洗几次车？
Nǐ měi gè yuè xǐ jǐcì chē?
How often do you wash your car a month?
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 氵 (water) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 洗 (xǐ) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 洗 and 选?
How many strokes does 洗 have?
What is the radical of 洗?
What are the components of 洗?
What are common words containing 洗?
What characters sound the same as 洗 (xǐ)?
Is 洗 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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