HSK 6 · Verbs

收缩 shōusuō “to shrink” in Chinese

Traditional 收縮

What 收缩 means

  1. to shrink
  2. to contract
  3. to pull back
  4. (physiology) systole

How to say 收缩

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale收shōu1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale缩suō1st tone, high and level

收缩 in a sentence

  1. 金属冷却的时候会收缩。

    Jīnshǔ lěngquè de shíhou huì shōusuō.

    Metals contract when they cool.

    Sentence #405772 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 收缩 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 收 (shōu) with each of its parts in a different colour
收shōuto receive
  • 丩to connect · jiūSound part
  • 攵tap form of 攴 · pūMeaning part

攵 hints at the meaning (tap); 丩 (jiū) hints at the sound. Compare it with shōu.

The character 缩 (suō) with each of its parts in a different colour
缩suōto withdraw
  • 纟silk form of 糸 · mìMeaning part
  • 宿to stop · sùSound part

纟 hints at the meaning (silk); 宿 (sù) hints at the sound. Compare it with suō.

How to write 收缩

收 6 strokes · 缩 14 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

收缩 (shōusuō) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 收缩 (shōusuō). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 收缩

Words with 收

收到shōudào · to receive收shōu · to receive收拾shōushi · to put in order收入shōurù · income吸收xīshōu · to absorb收据shōujù · receipt收获shōuhuò · harvest收藏shōucáng · to collect验收yànshōu · to check and accept招收zhāoshōu · to recruit

Words with 缩

缩短suōduǎn · to shorten压缩yāsuō · to compress

More words: Common Verbs

实行shíxíng · to put into practice施展shīzhǎn · to make full use of收藏shōucáng · to collect守护shǒuhù · to guard授予shòuyǔ · to award耍shuǎ · to play with率领shuàilǐng · to lead束缚shùfù · to restrict

FAQs

收缩 (shōusuō) means “to shrink” or “to contract”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it shōusuō: shōu with a 1st tone, then suō with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 收缩 is written 收縮. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type shousuo with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 收缩 from the suggestions. Typing shousuo into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
收缩 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.