逐 (zhú): chase, one by one

逐 (zhú) is a Chinese character meaning “chase, one by one.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 辶 (semantic) and 豕 (phonetic). It ranks #954 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 逐 walk. Its radical form 辶 (walk) appears in many related characters such as 边 (biān, side), 过 (guò, to pass, past), 还 (hái, still, return).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. chase, one by one

Etymology & Origin

逐

pictophoneticwalk

Decomposition: ⿺辶豕 (layout: surround-from-lower-left)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 逐

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
逐渐adverbzhú jiàngradually5
逐步adverbzhú bùprogressively5

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
驱逐verbqū zhúto expel
追逐verbzhuī zhúto chase
放逐verbfàng zhúto banish
角逐verbjué zhúto tussle
逐出verbzhú chūto expel
逐个adverbzhú gèone by one
逐一adverbzhú yīone by one
驱逐舰nounqū zhú jiàndestroyer (warship)
随波逐流phrasesuí bō zhú liúto drift with the waves and go with the flow (idiom)
竞逐verbjìng zhúcompetition
逐年adverbzhú niányear after year
逐客令zhú kè lìngthe First Emperor's order to expel foreigners
逐字逐句phrasezhú zì zhú jùliteral
追逐赛zhuī zhú sàipursuit race
笑逐颜开phrasexiào zhú yán kāismile spread across the face (idiom)
39
Total compounds
49
As first character
13
As last character
38
As middle character

逐 appears in 39 compound words: 49 as the first character, 13 as the last, and 38 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 逐 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

渐jiàn
0.75460,389 co-occurrences
驱qū
0.62828,718 co-occurrences
舰jiàn
0.53013,252 co-occurrences
步bù
0.52837,311 co-occurrences
追zhuī
0.48412,382 co-occurrences
玉yù
0.44116 co-occurrences
角jiǎo
0.43817,496 co-occurrences
衰shuāi
0.4302,384 co-occurrences
减jiǎn
0.4202,982 co-occurrences
艘sōu
0.4023,545 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (12)

驱逐出境qū zhú chū jìngHSK 7+

to deport; to expel

phrase
如蝇逐臭rú yíng zhú chòuHSK 7+

like flies pursuing a stink (idiom); the mob chases the rich and powerful; the crowd runs after trash

phrase
舍本逐末shěběnzhúmòHSK 5+

to attend to minor unimportant details while neglecting the essentials

phrase
随波逐流suíbōzhúliúHSK 7+

to go with the flow; to swim with the tide; to act or behave the same way as the majority of others

phrase
下逐客令xiàzhúkèlìngHSK 5+

to ask a guest to leave

phrase
笑逐颜开xiàozhúyánkāiHSK 5+

beaming with smiles; smiling cheerfully

phrase
逐鹿中原zhúlùzhōngyuánHSK 7+

to fight for the throne and control over China

phrase
逐字逐句zhúzìzhújùHSK 5+

word by word and phrase by phrase, in a literal manner

phrase
追奔逐北zhuībēnzhúběiHSK 6+

to pursue and attack a routed enemy

phrase
追风逐电zhuīfēngzhúdiànHSK 5+

to chase swiftly; to get on like a house on fire; fast-paced progress

phrase
追名逐利zhuīmíngzhúlìHSK 5+

to seek fame and fortune

phrase
追亡逐北zhuīwángzhúběiHSK 6+

to pursue and attack defeated soldiers that are fleeing

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

我们要逐步实现目标,不能急于求成。

Wǒmen yào zhúbù shíxiàn mùbiāo, bùnéng jíyú qiúchéng.

We must gradually achieve our goals; we cannot rush for quick results.

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

...业利益锐减逾97% 预期个资外泄事件冲击逐步减弱

. . . yè lì yì ruì jiǎn yú 9 7 yù qī gè zī wài xiè shì jiàn chōng jī zhú bù jiǎn ruò

... Industry profits plummeted by more than 97% It is expected that the impact of personal data leakage events will gradually weaken

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

读家观点/大陆春晚光影下的机器人竞逐

dòu jiā guàn diǎn dà lù chūn wǎn guāng yǐng xià de jī qì rén jìng zhú

Reader's point of view/Robot competition under the light and shadow of the mainland Spring Festival Gala

EtnetFeb 2026

...有裁员计划,将帮助受影响员工在未来三年内逐步完成转型

. . . yǒu cái yuán jì huá , jiāng bāng zhù shòu yǐng xiǎng yuán gōng zài wèi lái sān nián nèi zhú bù wán chéng zhuǎn xíng

... There are layoff plans that will help affected employees gradually complete the transformation over the next three years

Fx168 Finance NetworkFeb 2026

...59870)收涨超3.5%,化工景气拐点逐渐明朗-FX168

. . . 5 9 8 7 0 ) shōu zhǎng chāo 3 . 5 , huà gōng jǐng qì guǎi diǎn zhú jiān míng lǎng F X 1 6 8

... 59870) closed up more than 3.5%, and the inflection point of the chemical boom gradually became clear - FX168

百度新闻Feb 2026

不只是相信“相信的力量”——速滑团体追逐夺牌的背后

bù zhī shì xiāng xìn xiāng xìn de lì liáng sù huá tuán tī zhuī zhú duó pái de bēi hòu

More than just believing in the 'power of believing' - behind speed skating's medal-winning team pursuit

Tatoeba

十支队伍竞逐奖项。

Shí zhīduì wǔ jìngzhú jiǎngxiàng.

Ten teams competed for the prize.

Tatoeba

许多人毫无目的地随波逐流。

Xǔduō rén háowú mùdìdì suíbōzhúliú.

Many people drift through life without a purpose.

Tatoeba

我父亲逐渐好转了。

Wǒ fùqin zhújiàn hǎozhuǎn le.

My father is getting better by degrees.

Tatoeba

乌云逐渐布满了整个天空。

Wūyún zhújiàn bù mǎn le zhěnggè tiānkōng.

The sky has gradually clouded over.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 辶 (walk) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced zhú

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 逐 (zhú) mean in Chinese?
逐 (zhú) primarily means "chase, one by one." It is classified as HSK Level 5, making it an advanced character. It ranks #954 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 逐 and 家?
逐 (zhú) and 家 (jiā) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 辶 vs 宀 (same 豕 component).
How many strokes does 逐 have?
逐 is written with 10 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 逐?
The radical associated with 逐 is 辶 (walk). This radical appears in many characters related to walk.
What are the components of 逐?
逐 is composed of: 辶 (semantic), 豕 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿺辶豕 with a surround-from-lower-left layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 逐?
Common words with 逐 include: 逐渐 (zhú jiàn, "gradually"); 驱逐 (qū zhú, "to expel"); 追逐 (zhuī zhú, "to chase"); 放逐 (fàng zhú, "to banish"); 角逐 (jué zhú, "to tussle"). There are over 39 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 逐 (zhú)?
Several characters share the pronunciation zhú: 主 (owner), 住 (to live, to stay), 注 ((bound form) to pour into), 助 (to help), and 4 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 逐 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 逐 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 逐 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.