溜 (liū): to slip away

Meanings

1 to slip away
2 to sneak off
3 to slide
4 to skate

Characters

溜

liū

to slip; to slide; to sneak off

Examples

HSK 4

孩子们在冰上溜冰。

Háizi men zài bīng shàng liūbīng.

The children are ice skating.

HSK 5

路太滑了，小心别溜倒。

Lù tài huá le, xiǎoxīn bié liū dǎo.

The road is too slippery, be careful not to slip and fall.

HSK 7-9

他趁没人注意溜走了。

Tā chèn méi rén zhùyì liūzǒu le.

He slipped away while no one was paying attention.

Tips

usage

The everyday reading is liū: slip on a wet surface, slide, skate, or slip away unnoticed (溜走, 溜冰). It also forms the lively reduplicated pattern X-溜溜 (光溜溜, 灰溜溜) meaning 'all over / thoroughly.'

mistakes

Two readings. liū = slip / slide / sneak off (the common one). liù = a row or line of things, a swift current, and several dialect senses: 随大溜 (go with the crowd), 一溜烟 (off in a flash). If it means 'sneak / skate,' it's liū; if it counts a row or names a current, it's liù.

Components

radical

氵 shuǐ

water (radical form)

Left water radical, the indexing radical. Anchors 溜 in the slippery, flowing domain: a wet surface is what you slip on. Same family as 滑 (slide), 流 (flow), 滚 (roll). The radical previews the sliding motion the right side spells out.

phonetic

留 liú

remain; stay (here phonetic)

Right 留 supplies the sound, liú to liū, only a tone shift. There is an ironic semantic clash: 留 means 'stay,' but 溜 means 'slip away.' A pure phonetic role; learners can use the contrast as a memory hook.