嗽

sòu
verb #46,131

Meanings

  1. 1 to cough

Examples

HSK 4
Wǒ zhè jǐtiān késou de lìhai, gāi qù kàn yīshēng le.
I've been coughing badly these few days; I should see a doctor.
HSK 4
Tā gān késou le jǐ shēng, kāishǐ shuōhuà.
He cleared his throat with a dry cough and began to speak.
HSK 7-9
Zhè zhǒng tángjiāng zhì késou tǐng guǎnyòng de.
This syrup works quite well for coughs.

Tips

usage
Almost always in 咳嗽 ('to cough'), where it is the toneless second syllable. On its own 嗽 is rarely used in everyday speech.

Components

radical
口 kǒu
mouth
The mouth radical on the left marks this as something done with the mouth and throat, here coughing, which makes it pair naturally with 咳.
phonetic
欶 shuò
to suck in; to sip
Supplies the sound on the right: 欶 shifted to sòu. It also faintly evokes a sharp intake of breath, which suits a cough.

Stroke Order

嗽 sòu