吸 (xī): to breathe, to suck in, to absorb
吸 (xī) is a Chinese character meaning “to breathe.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 口 (semantic) and 及 (phonetic). It ranks #924 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 吸 mouth. Its radical form 口 (mouth) appears in many related characters such as 口 (kǒu, mouth), 叫 (jiào, to call, to be called), 右 (yòu, (bound form) right).
Definitions
- to breathe
- to suck in
- to absorb
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 吸 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 吸
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 呼吸verb | hū xī | to breathe | 5 |
| 吸引verb | xī yǐn | to attract | 4 |
| 吸收verb | xī shōu | to absorb | 5 |
| 吸取verb | xī qǔ | to absorb | 6 |
| 吸管noun | xī guǎn | (drinking) straw | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 吸血鬼 | xī xuè guǐ | leech |
| 吸毒 | xī dú | to take drugs |
| 吸烟 | xī yān | to smoke |
| 吸引力 | xī yǐn lì | attractive force (such as gravitation) |
| 吸食 | xī shí | (of an insect) to drink (nectar, sap, blood etc) |
| 吸气 | xī qì | to inhale |
| 吸尘器 | xī chén qì | vacuum cleaner |
| 呼吸器 | hū xī qì | (medicine) ventilator |
| 人工呼吸 | rén gōng hū xī | artificial respiration (medicine) |
| 呼吸道 | hū xī dào | respiratory tract |
| 吸吮 | xī shǔn | to suck on (sth) |
| 吮吸 | shǔn xī | to suck |
| 吸力 | xī lì | (physics) attraction (gravitational, magnetic, electrostatic etc) |
| 吸热 | xī rè | heat absorption |
| 吸纳 | xī nà | to take in |
吸 appears in 100 compound words: 64 as the first character, 11 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 吸 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (5)
Showing 4 of 5 idioms containing 吸.
Example Sentences
深呼吸可以帮助你放松身心，缓解压力。
Shēn hūxī kěyǐ bāngzhù nǐ fàngsōng shēnxīn, huǎnjiě yālì.
Deep breathing can help you relax your body and mind and relieve stress.
槟城庙会“解码之旅” 吸引约20万人参与
槟 chéng miào huì jiě mǎ zhī lǚ xī yǐn yuē wàn rén cān yǔ
Penang Temple Fair "Decoding Journey" Attracts Approximately 200,000 Participants
港大團隊發現新物理原理 破解「通風與吸音」矛盾難題
gǎng dà 團 隊 發 現 xīn wù lǐ yuán lǐ pò jiě tōng 風 與 xī yīn máo dùn 難 題
HKU Team Discovers New Physical Principle, Solving the Paradox Between Ventilation and Sound Absorption
港大發現新物理原理 突破通風吸音材料極限
gǎng dà 發 現 xīn wù lǐ yuán lǐ tū pò tōng 風 xī yīn cái liào 極 xiàn
HKU Discovers New Physical Principle, Pushing Boundaries of Ventilated Sound-Absorbing Materials
TVB視帝黃宗澤晒童年照吸引4千萬人圍觀 6歲潮男Chok樣曝光獲...
視 dì 黃 zōng 澤 shài tóng nián zhào xī yǐn qiān 萬 rén 圍 觀 歲 cháo nán 樣 pù guāng 獲 . . .
TVB star Wong Chung Chak's childhood photo attracts 40 million viewers...
惠理:金價跌返4900水平可吸
huì lǐ jīn 價 diē fǎn shuǐ píng kě xī
Wheatley:Gold price drop back to 4900 level can be absorbed
珍比苏珊更吸引人。
Zhēn bǐ Sūshān gèng xīyǐn rén.
Jane is more attractive than Susan.
主妇给地毯吸了尘。
Zhǔfù gěi dìtǎn xī le chén.
The homemaker vacuumed the carpet.
汤姆讨厌在禁烟区吸烟的人。
Tāngmǔ tǎoyàn zài jìnyānqū xīyān de rén.
Tom doesn't like people who smoke in no smoking areas.
你能屏住呼吸多久？
Nǐ néng bīng zhù hūxī duōjiǔ?
How long can you hold your breath?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 吸 (xī) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 吸 and 圾?
How many strokes does 吸 have?
What is the radical of 吸?
What are the components of 吸?
What are common words containing 吸?
What characters sound the same as 吸 (xī)?
Is 吸 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 吸 with real-time feedback
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