蹿 (cuān) · to spring up, to shoot upward, to dart

Meanings

1 to spring up
2 to shoot upward
3 to dart
4 to jump up suddenly

Characters

蹿

cuān

to spring up; to shoot upward; to dart

Examples

HSK 4

猫一下子蹿上了屋顶。

Māo yíxiàzi cuān shàng le wūdǐng.

The cat leapt up onto the roof in an instant.

HSK 5

他的身高在这一年里蹿了好几厘米。

Tā de shēngāo zài zhè yī nián lǐ cuān le hǎojǐ lǐmǐ.

His height shot up by several centimeters this year.

HSK 7-9

价格突然蹿升，让消费者措手不及。

Jiàgé tūrán cuān shēng, ràng xiāofèizhě cuòshǒu-bùjí.

Prices suddenly shot up, catching consumers off guard.

Tips

usage

蹿 conveys a rapid, sudden upward movement or dramatic increase - like a cat leaping, a price surging, or a child growing fast. It always implies quickness and unexpectedness.

Components

radical

足 zú

foot

Left foot radical - a pictograph showing the lower leg above and the footprint below. The indexing radical, anchors 蹿 in the family of foot-action verbs: 跑 run, 跳 jump, 蹦 leap. Marks 蹿 as a forceful upward foot-motion - leaping, darting (a deer 蹿 across a field, a flame 蹿 up a wall).

phonetic

窜 cuàn

flee; scuttle

Right 窜 supplies the sound - cuàn shifting to cuān with tone change. 窜 itself depicts a rat (鼠) under a cave roof (穴) - a creature darting through holes. The shared image of sudden, scrambling movement makes this a rare case where the phonetic also reinforces the meaning. Simplified from traditional 躥; both sides were larger in the original.