凑 (còu): to gather together

Meanings

1 to gather together
2 to collect
3 to piece together
4 to move close to

Characters

凑

còu

to gather; to piece together

Examples

HSK 1

我们凑了一些钱帮他。

Wǒmen còu le yīxiē qián bāng tā.

We pooled some money together to help him.

HSK 2

他凑过来看我的手机。

Tā còu guòlái kàn wǒ de shǒujī.

He leaned over to look at my phone.

HSK 2

正好凑够了十个人。

Zhènghǎo còu gòu le shí gè rén.

We happened to gather exactly ten people.

Tips

usage

凑 has two main uses: (1) to gather/collect things together (凑钱 = pool money), and (2) to move closer physically (凑过来 = come closer). Context determines the meaning.

memory

Think of 凑 as 'crowding together' - whether it's people, money, or objects being brought into one place.

Components

radical

冫 bīng

ice (radical)

Left radical 冫 - two short strokes representing slivers of ice. Originally 凑 was written with 氵 (water) on the left; the modern simplified shape uses 冫 instead, picturing chunks of ice drifting and bumping together. Same radical anchors the cold-water family 冷 (cold), 冰 (ice), 冻 (freeze), 净 (clean).

phonetic

奏 zòu

to present; offer up (phonetic)

Right phonetic 奏 supplies the full sound (zòu → còu, just an initial shift). 奏 originally meant 'to bring forward, to present (a memorial)', a sense that bleeds nicely into 凑: bringing things together, drawing close. Same phonetic appears in 揍 (to beat) - the next character on this list.