熄 (xī): to extinguish, to put out (fire), to quench
熄 (xī) is a Chinese character meaning “to extinguish.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 火 (structural) and 息 (structural). It ranks #2669 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 熄 to end 息 a flame 火; 息 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 火 (fire) appears in many related characters such as 火 (huǒ, fire), 灯 (dēng, lamp, light), 烟 (yān, smoke).
Definitions
- to extinguish
- to put out (fire)
- to quench
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTo end 息 a flame 火; 息 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿰火息 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 熄 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 熄灭 | xī miè | to stop burning |
| 熄灯 | xī dēng | turn out the lights |
| 熄火 | xī huǒ | (of fire, lamp etc) to go out |
| 智熄 | zhì xī | (slang) extremely foolish |
| 吹熄 | chuī xī | to blow out (a flame) |
| 熄屏 | xī píng | variant of 息屏[xi1 ping2] |
熄 appears in 6 compound words: 67 as the first character, 33 as the last, and 0 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 熄 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
冬天里,一家人围坐在炉熄旁取暖聊天。
dōng tiān lǐ , yī jiā rén wéi zuò zài lú xī páng qǔ nuǎn liáo tiān .
In winter, the family gathers around the stove to warm themselves and chat.
老围三级火今晨大致救熄 两村屋焚毁 火警无可疑起因待查
lǎo wéi sān jí huǒ jīn chén dà zhì jiù xī liǎng cūn wū fén huǐ huǒ jǐng wú kě yí qǐ yīn dài chá
A Level 3 fire in Laowei was largely extinguished this morning; two villages were destroyed by the blaze; the cause of the fire is under investigation and no suspicious circumstances have been identified
贾吉关键时刻又软手!熄火吞3K被骂爆 球迷怒:别再让他打WBC
gǔ jí guān jiàn shí kè yòu ruǎn shǒu ! xī huǒ tūn 3 K bèi mà bào qiú mí nù : bié zài ràng tā dǎ W B C
Jagi again choked in the clutch! He went 0-for-3 and got slammed by fans, who are furious: "Don't let him play in the WBC anymore!"
美PPI冲高浇熄联准会降息预期 道琼开盘一度跌近800点
měi P P I chōng gāo jiāo xī lián zhǔn huì jiàng xī yù qī dào 琼 kāi pán yī dù diē jìn 8 0 0 diǎn
U.S. PPI soared to extinguish expectations of the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut The Dow Jones opened down nearly 800 points
领克语音识别错熄全车灯光 车主唤开竟答“仲未识喔” 官方...
lǐng kè yǔ yīn shí bié cuò xī quán chē dēng guāng chē zhǔ huàn kāi jìng dā zhòng wèi shí 喔 guān fāng . . .
Lynk & Co's voice recognition mistakenly turned off the lights of the whole car, and the owner called out and replied, "I don't know it yet" official...
牛池湾纪律部队宿舍天台失火 救熄起因待查
niú chí wān jì lǜ bù duì sù shě tiān tái shī huǒ jiù xī qǐ yīn dài chá
The roof of the Niuchiwan Disciplined Forces dormitory caught fire, and the cause of the extinguishing was to be investigated
许个愿,然后吹熄蜡烛吧。
Xǔ gè yuàn, ránhòu chuīxī làzhú ba.
Make a wish and blow out the candles.
火很快便被扑熄了,房子只受到轻微损坏。
Huǒ hěn kuài biàn bèi pū xī le, fángzi zhǐ shòudào qīngwēi sǔnhuài.
The house did not suffer much damage because the fire was quickly put out.
别忘了把香烟熄掉。
Bié wàng le bǎ xiāngyān xī diào.
Don't forget to extinguish your cigarette.
就算我的家发生火灾,也会很快就被扑熄的。
Jiùsuàn wǒ de jiā fāshēng huǒzāi, yě huì hěn kuài jiù bèi pū xī de.
Even if my house catches fire it would soon be put out.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 熄 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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