p8nda
p8nda BETA
Home Dictionary Translate Flashcards Sign in

呴

xǔ
verb

Meanings

  1. 1 (classical) to breathe on; to blow warm air
  2. 2 (classical) to roar

Examples

相呴以湿，相濡以沫。
Xiāng xǔ yǐ shī, xiāngrúyǐmò.
Stranded fish moisten each other with their breath and damp spit.

Tips

history
呴 is not used independently in modern Chinese. It is best known from the Zhuangzi image 相呴以湿 (fish breathing on each other to stay moist), now usually quoted with the parallel 相濡以沫.
register
Archaic and literary only, found in classical philosophy and etymology notes, not in everyday speech.

Components

radical
口 kǒu
mouth
The mouth radical 口 fits the meaning: 呴 is breathing or roaring, both actions of the mouth.
phonetic
句 jù
sentence; phrase
句 (also read gōu in older words) supplies the sound base, drifted to xǔ. The same phonetic appears in 够 (enough) and 拘 (to restrain).

No stroke data for 呴; the glyph shown is your device font, so component strokes can't be highlighted.

Stroke Order

呴 xǔ