疏 shū
- Strokes
- 12
- Radical
- 疋 — roll, bolt of cloth
- Made of
- 疋 roll, bolt of cloth 㐬 pennant
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
疏通
shūtōng
to dredge; to clear; to smooth out
Characters in this word
通 tōng
- Strokes
- 10
- Radical
- 辶 — to walk
- Made of
- 辶 to walk 甬 path
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
Example phrases
- 工程队连夜疏通排水管道，否则整片街区都会被积水淹没。 Gōngchéngduì liányè shūtōng páishuǐ guǎndào, fǒuzé zhěng piàn jiēqū dōu huì bèi jīshuǐ yānmò. The engineering crew worked through the night to clear the drainage pipes; otherwise the whole neighbourhood would have been flooded.
- 下雨前要疏通沟渠，免得院子被水淹。 Xiàyǔ qián yào shūtōng gōuqú, miǎnde yuànzi bèi shuǐ yān. Before the rain you need to clear the ditches, so the yard does not get flooded.
- 他多方疏通关系，事情很快就办成了。 Tā duōfāng shūtōng guānxi, shìqing hěn kuài jiù bànchéng le. He smoothed out the needed connections in every way, and the matter was soon settled.
Related words
- 生疏 shēngshū unfamiliar; rusty; out of practice
- 疏导 shūdǎo to guide; to channel; to ease
- 疏忽 shūhu to neglect; to overlook; negligence
- 疏散 shūsàn to evacuate; to disperse; scattered
- 疏远 shūyuǎn distant; estranged; to become distant
- 交通 jiāotōng transportation; traffic
- 普通 pǔtōng ordinary
- 普通话 pǔtōnghuà Standard Mandarin
- 通 tōng to be open; to connect
- 通过 tōngguò to pass; through
- 通知 tōngzhī to notify; notice
- 通常 tōngcháng usually