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吐

tǔ / tù
verb HSK 6 #1,458

Meanings

  1. 1 to spit
  2. 2 to send out (silk, cotton bolls)
  3. 3 to say; to utter
  4. 4 to pour out (grievances)

Examples

HSK 7-9
不要随地吐痰。
Búyào suídì tǔ tán.
Don't spit on the ground.
HSK 7-9
蚕吐丝做茧。
Cán tǔ sī zuò jiǎn.
Silkworms spin silk to make cocoons.
HSK 7-9
他终于吐露了真情。
Tā zhōngyú tǔlù le zhēnqíng.
He finally poured out his true feelings.

Tips

grammar
Two readings split by meaning. 吐 (3rd tone) = controlled sending-out: spitting, silkworms spinning silk, speaking, pouring out grievances. 吐 (4th tone) = involuntary vomiting. If it's deliberate, use tǔ; if your body did it without permission, use tù.
culture
随地吐痰 (spitting on the ground) has been a target of public hygiene campaigns for decades. Signs reading 禁止随地吐痰 are common in stations and parks.

Components

radical
口 kǒu
mouth
Left mouth radical - marks 吐 as a mouth-action, the canonical exit route. Same family as 吃 (eat), 喝 (drink), 唱 (sing). Here the mouth does the opposite of eating - sending material out instead of in.
phonetic
土 tǔ
earth; soil (here phonetic)
Right 土 supplies the sound (tǔ, exact match including tone). Same phonetic series as 杜, 肚. A faint scenic hook sticks too - spit lands on 土 - but the role is purely sonic. Pure phono-semantic compound.

Stroke Order

吐 tǔ