TongTong
Sign in

吐 (tǔ) — to spit out (from the mouth); to emit, to produce (e.g. silk, new buds); to pour out (one's feelings, thoughts)

Definition

A verb with two pronunciations: tǔ 'spit out / emit / pour out (feelings)', and tù 'vomit'. For 'emitting' (smoke, steam, buds, feelings) it's less technical than 排放 and more vivid/personal than 倾诉.

verb
to spit out (from the mouth)to emitto produce (e.g. silk, new buds)to pour out (one's feelings, thoughts)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 吐。
    Bìng rén bǎ yào tǔ le chū lái.
    The patient spat out the medicine.
  • 吐。
    Tā xiàng péng you tǔ chū le zì jǐ de fán nǎo.
    She poured out her worries to her friend.
  • ，吐。
    Chūn tiān dào le, shù tǔ chū le xīn yè.
    Spring arrived, and the tree put out new leaves.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
土
土tǔ吐tǔ
Same sound today

吐 pairs 口, the mouth, with 土, which gives the sound.

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 52000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.