ENESFRDE中文

Characters, words, pinyin or English

缩 suō to withdraw

to withdraw; to shrink; to pull back; to reduce

How to remember 缩: 纟 thread + 宿 to stop = to withdraw. The kitten bats at a loose thread, then comes to a sudden stop and, hearing the vacuum, hurries to withdraw under the sofa.

  • HSK 5
  • 14 strokes
  • Radical 纟

Component breakdown

缩 = 纟 thread + 宿 to stop

  • 纟 thread
  • 宿 to stop
The Gushi story

The kitten bats at a loose thread, then comes to a sudden stop and, hearing the vacuum, hurries to withdraw under the sofa.

How it is used

  • 缩 is the core verb for shrinking or pulling something inward, almost always in two-character compounds.
  • 缩小 suōxiǎo (to reduce/shrink, of size or gap) and 缩短 suōduǎn (to shorten, of time or distance) are the everyday pair - different from 减少 jiǎnshǎo, which is about reducing quantity, not dimension.
  • 压缩 yāsuō (to compress, files or budgets) and 浓缩 nóngsuō (to concentrate, of liquids or ideas) are common in tech and cooking contexts.
  • 畏缩 wèisuō (to cower/flinch) uses 缩 for shrinking back emotionally, not physically.

Words with 缩