(zhàng): swollen

(zhàng) is a Chinese character meaning “swollen.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (semantic) and (phonetic). It ranks #2048 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, flesh. Its radical form (moon) appears in many related characters such as (yuè, moon, month), (yǒu, to have), (péng, friend).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. swollen

Etymology & Origin

pictophoneticflesh

Decomposition: ⿰⺼长 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
péng zhàngto expand
zhǒng zhàngswelling
tōng huò péng zhànginflation
tóu hūn nǎo zhàng(idiom) to feel giddy
tōng zhànginflation (abbr. for 通貨膨脹|通货膨胀[tong1 huo4 peng2 zhang4])
tóu nǎo fā zhàngswelling of the head (physical condition)
tōng zhàng lǜinflation rate
zhàng dàswollen
è xìng tōng huò péng zhànghyperinflation
fā zhàngto swell up
zhàng qǐbulge
tóu zhàngdistention in the head (TCM)
tóu yūn nǎo zhàngdizzy and light-headed
gǔ zhàngto swell
zhàng nǎivariant of 漲奶|涨奶[zhang4 nai3]
19
Total compounds
16
As first character
79
As last character
5
As middle character

appears in 19 compound words: 16 as the first character, 79 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

péng
0.87020,128 co-occurrences
zhǒng
0.6402,502 co-occurrences
huò
0.6176,876 co-occurrences
zhēng
0.5121,374 co-occurrences
jiǎng
0.476300 co-occurrences
tōng
0.4539,505 co-occurrences
0.4381,392 co-occurrences
0.435756 co-occurrences
zhòu
0.427780 co-occurrences
wèi
0.421258 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

tōnghuò péngzhàngHSK 7+

inflation

noun
tóuhūnnǎozhàngHSK 7+

to feel dizzy; one's head feels heavy

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

吃得太饱肚子会,影响消化,应该控制食量。

Chī de tài bǎo dùzi huì zhàng, yǐngxiǎng xiāohuà, yīnggāi kòngzhì shíliàng.

Eating too much causes bloating and affects digestion; food intake should be controlled.

NewsFeb 2026

她腹部气 原来横结肠有鞭虫

tā fù bù zhàng qì yuán lái héng jié cháng yǒu biān chóng

She had bloating in her abdomen and it turned out that there were whipworms in her transverse colon

NewsFeb 2026

古尔斯比:更多证据表明通正回落前不宜减息

gǔ ěr sī bǐ gēng duō zhèng jù biǎo míng tōng zhàng zhèng huí luò qián bù yí jiǎn xī

Goolsby: More evidence that interest rates should not be cut before inflation is falling

NewsFeb 2026

27岁男健身突胸痛肿 竟是罕见“胸大肌断裂”

suì nán jiàn shēn tū xiōng tòng zhǒng zhàng jìng shì hǎn jiàn xiōng dà jī duàn liè

The 27-year-old man's sudden chest pain and swelling during fitness is actually a rare "pectoralis major muscle rupture"

NewsFeb 2026

欧洲央行总裁拉加德称欧元区通与利率政策处于“良好状态”

ōu zhōu yāng háng zǒng cái lā jiā dé chèn ōu yuán qū tōng zhàng yǔ lì lǜ zhèng cè chǔ yú liáng hǎo zhuàng tài

ECB President Lagarde said Eurozone inflation and interest rate policy are in "good shape"

NewsFeb 2026

过年跑摊大吃!35岁上班族腹、泻秘 医:恐变慢性胃炎

guò nián pǎo tān dà chī ! suì shàng bān zú fù zhàng xiè mì yī kǒng biàn màn xìng wèi yán

Feasting at New Year's food stalls! 35-year-old office worker suffers bloating and alternating diarrhea/constipation. Doctor warns: Risk of developing chronic gastritis.

Tatoeba

随着通货膨的发展美元贬值了。

Suízhe tōnghuòpéngzhàng de fāzhǎn Měiyuán biǎnzhí le.

The value of the dollar declines as the rate of inflation rises.

Tatoeba

利率和通货膨很高。

Lìlǜ hé tōnghuòpéngzhàng hěn gāo.

Interest rates and inflation were high.

Tatoeba

首先,因为海水变热时膨,海平面可能提高。

Shǒuxiān, yīnwèi hǎishuǐ biàn rè shí péngzhàng, hǎipíngmiàn kěnéng tígāo.

First of all, the level of the ocean could rise, because ocean water expands as it grows warmer.

Tatoeba

鹰嘴豆和青豆等豆类虽然会引起气,但却是极佳的美食。

Yīngzuǐdòu hé qīngdòu děng dòulèi suīrán huì yǐnqǐ zhàng qì, dàn quèshì jí jiā de měishí.

Some legumes, like chickpeas and green beans, cause flatulence but are excellent foods.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced zhàng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 胀 (zhàng) mean in Chinese?
胀 (zhàng) primarily means "swollen." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2048 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 胀 have?
胀 is written with 8 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 胀?
The radical associated with 胀 is 月 (moon). This radical appears in many characters related to moon.
What are the components of 胀?
胀 is composed of: ⺼ (semantic), 长 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰⺼长 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 胀?
Common words with 胀 include: 膨胀 (péng zhàng, "to expand"); 肿胀 (zhǒng zhàng, "swelling"); 通货膨胀 (tōng huò péng zhàng, "inflation"); 头昏脑胀 (tóu hūn nǎo zhàng, "(idiom) to feel giddy"); 通胀 (tōng zhàng, "inflation (abbr. for 通貨膨脹|通货膨胀[tong1 huo4 peng2 zhang4])"). There are over 19 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 胀 (zhàng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation zhàng: 张 (to open up), 帐 ((bound form) curtain), 账 (account), 章 (chapter), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 胀 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 胀 and the traditional form is 脹.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native 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.