xiè
verb HSK 7-9 #15,776

Meanings

  1. 1 to leak
  2. 2 to discharge
  3. 3 to vent

Examples

Lúntāi xiè le qì.
The tire leaked air.
Tā bǎ nùqì xiè zài biérén shēnshang.
He vented his anger on others.

Tips

usage
is the core character in several HSK 7 words: 泄漏 (to leak), 泄露 (to divulge), 泄密 (to leak secrets). It conveys uncontrolled release.

Components

radical
shuǐ
water
is the left-side form of (water). It supplies the leak-and-discharge image — water finding a way out — and extends naturally to figurative leakage of secrets (泄密) and venting of emotion (发泄).
phonetic
shì
generation; world
shì provides the sound, shifted to xiè. The same phonetic feeds (dié, butterfly) and (dié, official document) when the underlying stem appears — a cluster around the dié/xiè/shì sound space.

Stroke Order

xiè