liú
noun #7,399

Measure Word

Meanings

  1. 1 tumor; lump; growth

Examples

HSK 4
Tā zuò le shǒushù bǎ liú qiē diào le.
She had surgery to remove the tumor.
HSK 5
Yīshēng fāxiàn tā nǎozi lǐ yǒu gè liú.
The doctor found a tumor in his brain.
HSK 7-9
Zhège liú shì liángxìng de.
This tumor is benign.

Tips

usage
Common compounds: 肿瘤 (zhǒngliú, tumor), 良性肿瘤 (liángxìng zhǒngliú, benign tumor), 恶性肿瘤 (èxìng zhǒngliú, malignant tumor), 脑瘤 (nǎoliú, brain tumor).

Components

radical
sickness (radical, 'sick-bed')
Outer sickness radical - a person leaning against a bed, the standard marker for any disease character. Anchors in the medical family with illness, pain, epidemic, itch. Wraps around the right and bottom of the phonetic, like a sickbed enclosing a patient - the visual frame for any condition affecting the body.
phonetic
liú
to stay; to remain
Inner supplies the sound liú with no drift, identical pinyin. itself means 'to stay, remain,' which carries a strong semantic bonus: a tumor is a growth that stays, a lump of cells refusing to leave. Sound and meaning lock together cleanly - an abnormal mass that lingers.

Stroke Order

liú