收腹 (shōu fù) — to tighten one's abdominal muscles; to suck in…

Definition

A fitness/pose verb: actively pull the belly inward and tighten the abdominal muscles. Common in exercise and posture coaching contexts.

verb

to tighten one's abdominal musclesto suck in one's stomach

收腹。
Tā jiàn shēn de shí hou yì zhí zài liàn xí shōu fù.
She kept practicing sucking in her stomach while working out.
收腹。
Jiào liàn ràng dà jiā shōu fù sān miǎo.
The coach told everyone to tighten their abs for three seconds.
，。
Tā shōu le yí cì fù, rán hòu fàng sōng le.
He sucked in his stomach once, then relaxed.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

腹fùabdomen

收 (draw in) and 腹 (abdomen) together mean tightening the belly.

Characters in this word

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

攴攴pū

Sound part声符shēngfú

丩

丩jiū收shōu

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

收 uses 攴 to show an action and 丩 as a sound clue; the old meaning was 'to arrest.'

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

肉肉ròumeat; flesh

Sound part声符shēngfú

复

复fù腹⁰fù

Same sound today

The left part 肉, meaning flesh, shows this is a body part, and the right part 复 gives the sound.

Appears in