抽

Tap the pinyin to hear it

to draw out; to pull out from in between; to remove part of the whole; to inhale (esp. smoke); (of fabric etc) to shrink; (of certain plants) to sprout; to bud; to whip; to thrash; classifier for sheets (of tissues, wet wipes etc)

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HSK 3.0: Level 4
Old HSK: Level 4
Strokes: 8
Radical: 手 +5
Structure: Left–right 左右
Traditional: 抽
Common rank: #1,086
Unicode: U+62BD

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 抽 is formed

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

扌 meaning “hand” + 由 sound ( yóu )

Components 扌由

How to remember it

take out · Heisig RSH #914

fingers + sprout

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 抽

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
病来如山倒，病去如抽丝	bìng lái rú shān dǎo , bìng qù rú chōu sī	sickness comes like a landslide, but goes slowly like spinning silk (idiom); expect to con…
倒抽一口气	dào chōu yī kǒu qì	to gasp (in surprise, dismay, fright etc)
抽水机	chōu shuǐ jī	water pump
抽风机	chōu fēng jī	exhaust fan
短中抽长	duǎn zhōng chōu cháng	to make the best of a bad job; to make the best use of limited resources (idiom)
抽油烟机	chōu yóu yān jī	range hood; kitchen exhaust hood
抽嘴巴	chōu zuǐ ba	to slap
抽时间	chōu shí jiān	to (try to) find the time to
抽动症	chōu dòng zhèng	Tourette syndrome
抽象代数	chōu xiàng dài shù	abstract algebra
抽水	chōu shuǐ	to pump water; (coll.) to shrink in the wash
抽冷子	chōu lěng zi	(coll.) unexpectedly
抽头	chōu tóu	to take a percentage of the winnings (in gambling); tap (in an electromagnetic coil); draw…
抽中	chōu zhòng	to win (a prize in a lottery)
生抽	shēng chōu	light soy sauce
抽动	chōu dòng	to twitch; to throb; a spasm; to divert (money) to other uses
抽气	chōu qì	to draw air out
抽出	chōu chū	to take out; to extract
抽风	chōu fēng	to ventilate; to induce a draft; spasm; convulsion
抽打	chōu dǎ	to whip; to flog; to thrash

Sound family

Characters sharing the sound component 由 — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
由 sound part	yóu	cause, reason; from
油	yóu	oil, fat, grease, lard; oil paints
轴	zhóu	axle, pivot, shaft; axis
邮	yóu	mail; post office
袖	xiù	sleeve
宙	zhòu	space, time, space-time
鼬	yòu	weasel, mustela itatis
铀	yóu	uranium
釉	yòu	enamel, glaze
岫	xiù	mountain peak; cave, cavern
柚	yòu	grapefruit, pomelo
蚰	yóu	millipede
妯	zhóu	sister-in law
舳	zhú	the stern of a ship