胀 (zhàng): swollen

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

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

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. swollen

Etymology & Origin

胀

pictophoneticflesh

Decomposition: ⿰⺼长 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
膨胀verbpéng zhàngto expand
肿胀verbzhǒng zhàngswelling
通货膨胀nountōng huò péng zhànginflation
头昏脑胀phrasetóu hūn nǎo zhàng(idiom) to feel giddy
通胀nountōng zhànginflation (abbr. for 通貨膨脹|通货膨胀)
热胀冷缩rè zhàng lěng suōthermal expansion and contraction
头脑发胀tóu nǎo fā zhàngswelling of the head (physical condition)
通胀率nountōng zhàng lǜinflation rate
胀大zhàng dàswollen
恶性通货膨胀nounè xìng tōng huò péng zhànghyperinflation
发胀verbfā zhàngto swell up
胀起zhàng qǐbulge
头胀tóu zhàngdistention in the head (TCM)
头晕脑胀tóu yūn nǎo zhàngdizzy and light-headed
鼓胀verbgǔ zhàngto swell
20
Total compounds
15
As first character
75
As last character
10
As middle character

胀 appears in 20 compound words: 15 as the first character, 75 as the last, and 10 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 胀 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

膨péng
0.7416,713 co-occurrences
肿zhǒng
0.631834 co-occurrences
货huò
0.6082,292 co-occurrences
蒸zhēng
0.505458 co-occurrences
桨jiǎng
0.469100 co-occurrences
通tōng
0.4503,211 co-occurrences
汽qì
0.432464 co-occurrences
腹fù
0.422259 co-occurrences
宙zhòu
0.421260 co-occurrences
胃wèi
0.42091 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

通货膨胀tōnghuò péngzhàngHSK 7+

inflation

noun
头昏脑胀tóuhūnnǎozhàngHSK 7+

to feel dizzy; one's head feels heavy

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

吃得太饱肚子会胀,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

她腹部胀气 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:更多证据表明通胀正回落前不宜减息

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岁男健身突胸痛肿胀 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胀与利率政策处于“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岁上班族腹胀、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

随着通货膨胀的发展美元贬值了。

Suízhe tōnghuòpéngzhàng de fāzhǎn Měiyuán biǎnzhí le.

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

Tatoeba

利率和通货膨胀很高。

Lìlǜ hé tōnghuòpéngzhàng hěn gāo.

Interest rates and inflation were high.

Tatoeba

首先,因为海水变热时膨胀,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胀气,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

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the ⺼ (flesh) component

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)"). There are over 20 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 胀 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.