榨 (zhà): to press, to extract (juice), device for extracting juice, oils etc

榨 (zhà) is a Chinese character meaning “to press.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 木 (semantic) and 窄 (phonetic). It ranks #2952 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 榨 tree. Its radical form 木 (tree) appears in many related characters such as 本 (běn, (bound form) root), 机 (jī, machine, opportunity), 条 (tiáo, strip).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to press
  2. to extract (juice)
  3. device for extracting juice, oils etc

Etymology & Origin

榨

pictophonetictree

Decomposition: ⿰木窄 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

Practice writing 榨 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
压榨verbyā zhàto press
榨取verbzhà qǔto extract
榨汁机nounzhà zhī jījuicer
榨油verbzhà yóuto extract oil from vegetables
电子榨菜noundiàn zǐ zhà cài(slang) entertaining content such as Internet videos and TV shows that people watch while eating
现榨xiàn zhàto extract (juice, oil etc) on the spot
榨干zhà gān(fig.) to squeeze dry
榨酒池zhà jiǔ chíwinepress
榨菜nounzhà càihot pickled mustard tuber
敲榨qiāo zhàto press (fruit)
拶榨zā zhàto exploit (a worker)
榨汁zhà zhīto juice fruit or vegetables
12
Total compounds
58
As first character
33
As last character
8
As middle character

榨 appears in 12 compound words: 58 as the first character, 33 as the last, and 8 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 榨 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

汁zhī
0.562441 co-occurrences
油yóu
0.499808 co-occurrences
压yā
0.463577 co-occurrences
菜cài
0.448288 co-occurrences
剥bāo
0.44722 co-occurrences
籽zǐ
0.44028 co-occurrences
椰yē
0.39420 co-occurrences
取qǔ
0.394612 co-occurrences
萄táo
0.39398 co-occurrences
甘gān
0.393140 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

工人们正在砍伐病榨,防止虫害蔓延。

gōng rén men zhēng zài kǎn fá bìng zhà , fáng zhǐ chóng hài mán yán .

Workers are cutting down diseased trees to prevent the spread of pests.

少数派Aug 2026

这里需要用到轻食破壁榨汁机,一次基本上就是一份。

zhè lǐ xū yāo yòng dào qīng shí pò bì zhà zhī jī , yī cì jī běn shàng jiù shì yī fèn .

For this, you'll need a compact blender; one batch is basically one serving.

TvbsMar 2026

1周6战初恋女友!35岁男“被榨干”想分了 过来人5招救性福

1 zhōu 6 zhàn chū liàn nǚ yǒu ! 3 5 suì nán bèi zhà gān xiǎng fēn le guò lái rén 5 zhāo jiù xìng fú

Having Sex with His Ex-Girlfriend 6 Times a Week! 35-Year-Old Man Feels "Drained" and Wants to Break Up—5 Tips from Those Who’ve Been There to Save His Sex Life

EttodayMar 2026

夫偷吃色聊“被榨干了” 妻求偿100万却吞败

fū tōu chī sè liáo bèi zhà gān le qī qiú cháng 1 0 0 wàn què tūn bài

Husband Caught Cheating on a Sexting App Claims He Was "Drained Dry"; Wife Loses Lawsuit Seeking 1 Million in Damages

中時新聞網Mar 2026

电力需求吃紧 美国拟提升核电厂功率“再榨一轮”

diàn lì xū qiú chī jǐn měi guó nǐ tí shēng hé diàn hǎn gōng lǜ zài zhà yī lún

With electricity demand tight, the U.S. plans to increase nuclear power plant output for "one more round"

東方日報Feb 2026

南亚外佣遭压榨 八成被剥夺权利 工会倡突击查雇主住所

nán yà wài yòng zāo yā zhà bā chéng bèi bāo duó quán lì gōng huì chàng tū jī chá gù zhǔ zhù suǒ

South Asian foreign domestic helpers are oppressed and 80% are deprived of their rights Trade unions advocate raids on employers' residences

Tatoeba

她用了许多柳橙来榨汁。

Tā yòng le xǔduō liǔchéng lái zhà zhī.

She squeezed the juice from many oranges.

Tatoeba

资本家倾向于压榨工人。

Zīběnjiā qīngxiàngyú yāzhà gōngrén.

The capitalists tend to exploit the working people.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 木 (tree) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced zhà

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 榨 (zhà) mean in Chinese?
榨 (zhà) primarily means "to press." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2952 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 榨 have?
榨 is written with 14 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 榨?
The radical associated with 榨 is 木 (tree). This radical appears in many characters related to tree.
What are the components of 榨?
榨 is composed of: 木 (semantic), 窄 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰木窄 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 榨?
Common words with 榨 include: 压榨 (yā zhà, "to press"); 榨取 (zhà qǔ, "to extract"); 榨汁机 (zhà zhī jī, "juicer"); 榨油 (zhà yóu, "to extract oil from vegetables"); 电子榨菜 (diàn zǐ zhà cài, "(slang) entertaining content such as Internet videos and TV shows that people watch while eating"). There are over 12 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 榨 (zhà)?
Several characters share the pronunciation zhà: 炸 (to fry, to explode), 扎 (to prick), 诈 (to cheat), 眨 (to blink), and 2 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 榨 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 榨 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 榨 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.