下 (xià): down, downwards, below
下 (xià) is a Chinese character meaning “down.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 一 (structural) and 卜 (structural). It ranks #42 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 下 one stroke under another; compare 上 (above). Its radical form 一 (one) appears in many related characters such as 一 (yī, one), 七 (qī, seven), 三 (sān, three).
Definitions
- down
- downwards
- below
Etymology & Origin
ideographicOne stroke under another; compare 上 (above)
Decomposition: ⿱一卜 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 下 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 下
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 一下numeral-measure/adverb | yī xià | (after a verb) a bit | 1 |
| 下来verb | xià lai | to come down | 2 |
| 下去verb | xià qù | to go down | 2 |
| 留下verb | liú xià | to leave behind | 4 |
| 下面noun | xià miàn | below | 2 |
| 下午noun | xià wǔ | afternoon | 1 |
| 地下noun/adjective | dì xià | underground | 5 |
| 底下noun | dǐ xia | the location below sth | 4 |
| 下班verb | xià bān | to finish work | 1 |
| 以下noun | yǐ xià | that level or lower | 3 |
| 下降verb | xià jiàng | to decline | 4 |
| 下载verb | xià zǎi | to download | 5 |
| 线下noun | xiàn xià | offline | 4 |
| 天下noun | tiān xià | land under heaven | 6 |
| 下雨verb | xià yǔ | to rain | 1 |
| 上下noun | shàng xià | the top and bottom of sth | 5 |
| 如下verb | rú xià | as follows | 5 |
| 下课verb | xià kè | to finish class | 1 |
| 当下noun/adverb | dāng xià | immediately | 6 |
| 零下adjective | líng xià | below zero (esp. temperature) | 4 |
| 下单verb | xià dān | to place an order | 6 |
| 下功夫verb | xià gōng fu | variant of 下工夫 | 6 |
| 下线verb | xià xiàn | to go offline | 6 |
| 下旬noun | xià xún | last third of the month | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 放下verb | fàng xià | to lay down |
| 剩下verb | shèng xià | to remain |
| 坐下verb | zuò xia | to sit down |
| 停下verb | tíng xià | to stop |
| 下次noun | xià cì | next time |
| 陛下noun | bì xià | Your Majesty |
| 阁下noun | gé xià | your distinguished self |
| 接下来 | jiē xià lái | to accept |
| 地下室noun | dì xià shì | basement |
| 楼下noun | lóu xià | downstairs |
| 殿下noun | diàn xià | Your Majesty (honorific) |
| 手下noun | shǒu xià | under one's control or administration |
| 下手 | xià shǒu | to start |
| 之下postp | zhī xià | under |
| 私下adverb | sī xià | in private |
下 appears in 120 compound words: 53 as the first character, 41 as the last, and 6 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 下 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (51)
to get off one's high horse; to dispense with posturing (and adopt a more humble or empathetic attitude)
a position that invites suspicion; suspicious circumstances or surroundings
Showing 12 of 51 idioms containing 下.
Example Sentences
下班高峰期，地铁里挤满了人，几乎连站的地方都没有。
Xiàbān gāofēngqī, dìtiě lǐ jǐ mǎn le rén, jīhū lián zhàn de dìfang dōu méiyǒu.
During rush hour after work, the subway is packed with people, and there is almost no place to stand.
超标近2000倍 日本石川县一处地下水检出高浓度有..
chāo biāo jìn bèi rì běn shí chuān xiàn yī chǔ dì xià shuǐ jiǎn chū gāo nóng dù yǒu . .
Nearly 2,000 times the limit, a groundwater in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, was found to have high concentrations of...
浙江男子铁锅里泡澡,底下还烧着火,一个接一个!杭州..
zhè jiāng nán zǐ tiě guō lǐ pāo zǎo , de xià hái shāo zhe huǒ , yī gě jiē yī gě ! háng zhōu . .
A man in Zhejiang took a bath in an iron pot with a fire burning underneath—one after another! Hangzhou...
千问“一句话下单”受年轻人追捧,00后占比超40%..
qiān wèn yī gōu huà xià shàn shòu nián qīng rén zhuī pěng , hòu zhàn bǐ chāo . .
Qianwen's "One-Sentence Ordering" Gains Popularity Among Young People, with Gen Z Users Making Up Over 40%...
菲律宾海警在我南沙群岛附近海域扔下两个黑色桶状物,..
菲 lǜ bīn hǎi jǐng zài wǒ nán shā qún dǎo fù jìn hǎi yù rēng xià liǎng gě hēi sè tǒng zhuàng wù , . .
The Philippine Coast Guard dropped two black barrel-shaped objects in waters near our Spratly Islands...
新春走基层丨95后潜水员与千年白鹤梁的水下之约
xīn chūn zǒu jī céng 丨 hòu qián shuǐ yuán yú qiān nián bái hè liáng de shuǐ xià zhī yāo
Spring Festival at the Grassroots Level | Post-95 Diver's Underwater Encounter with the Millennia-Old Baiheliang
我能用一下你的字典吗？
Wǒ néng yòng yīxià nǐ de zìdiǎn ma?
Can I use your dictionary for a minute?
我们能私下谈谈吗？
Wǒmen néng sīxià tántán ma?
Can we talk in private?
在这种情况下，他们该做什么？
Zài zhèzhǒng qíngkuàng xià, tāmen gāi zuò shénme?
What should they do in this situation?
我们休息一下吧，好吗？
Wǒmen xiūxi yīxià ba, hǎo ma?
Let's break off, shall we?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 下 (xià) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 下 and 上?
How many strokes does 下 have?
What is the radical of 下?
What are the components of 下?
What are common words containing 下?
What characters sound the same as 下 (xià)?
Is 下 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 下 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.