垂 (chuí): to hang down; to droop

Meanings

1 to hang down; to droop
2 to approach; on the verge of (literary)

Characters

垂

chuí

to hang down; to droop

Examples

柳树的枝条垂到了水面。

Liǔshù de zhītiáo chuí dào le shuǐmiàn.

The willow branches drooped down to the water's surface.

他垂着头，一句话也不说。

Tā chuí zhe tóu, yíjùhuà yě bùshuō.

He hung his head and said nothing.

老人已经垂垂老矣。

Lǎorén yǐjīng chuí chuí lǎo yǐ.

The old man is approaching the end of his years.

Tips

usage

垂 appears in many literary expressions: 垂涎三尺 (drooling three feet — craving something), 名垂青史 (name hanging in green history — leaving a lasting legacy), 垂死 (on the verge of death).

Components

pictograph

垂 chuí

hang down; droop

Originally a picture of a plant with branches drooping toward the ground over the earth radical. Modern strokes fuse the foliage into an overlay pattern that no longer splits into independent pieces, so the character reads as a single image of hanging or trailing. Indexed under Kangxi #32 土 (tǔ) via the buried base.

Filed under radical 土 (tǔ) by convention. 土 is not a separate component in 垂, so no strokes are highlighted.