HSK 6 · Body
消毒 xiāodú “to disinfect” in Chinese
Same in Traditional
What 消毒 means
- to disinfect
- to sterilise
How to say 消毒
消xiāo1st tone, high and level
毒dú2nd tone, rising
消毒 in a sentence
How 消毒 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.

消xiāoto diminish; to subside
- 氵water form of 水 · shuǐMeaning part
- 肖to resemble · xiàoSound part
氵 hints at the meaning (water); 肖 (xiào) hints at the sound. Compare it with xiāo.

毒dúpoison
- 龶part of the characterMeaning part
- 母mother · mǔSound part
How to write 消毒
消 10 strokes · 毒 9 strokes
Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

Words related to 消毒
Words with 消
消息xiāoxi · news消化xiāohuà · to digest (food or information)取消qǔxiāo · to cancel消失xiāoshī · to disappear消极xiāojí · negative消费xiāofèi · to consume消除xiāochú · to eliminate消耗xiāohào · to consume消灭xiāomiè · to wipe out消防xiāofáng · firefighting
Words with 毒
More words: People, Body & Health
FAQs
消毒 (xiāodú) means “to disinfect” or “to sterilise”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it xiāodú: xiāo with a 1st tone, then dú with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 消毒 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xiaodu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 消毒 from the suggestions. Typing xiaodu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
消毒 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.
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.