BaoziHSK Cards
  1. Home
  2. HSK 9
  3. Illnesses and symptoms

窒息

zhìxī

to suffocate; suffocation

HSK 9 · Topic “Illnesses and symptoms”
A person covers their nose with a cloth as smoke drifts toward a window
Memory picture

Characters in this word

窒 zhì

Strokes
11
Radical
穴 — cave, den, hole
Made of
穴 cave, den, hole 至 reach, arrive
How it's built
Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
More about the character 窒

息 xī

Strokes
10
Radical
心 — heart
Made of
自 self 心 heart
How it's built
Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
More about the character 息

Example phrases

  • 浓烟迅速充满楼道，几名住户因吸入有毒气体而出现窒息症状。 Nóngyān xùnsù chōngmǎn lóudào, jǐ míng zhùhù yīn xīrù yǒudú qìtǐ ér chūxiàn zhìxī zhèngzhuàng. Thick smoke quickly filled the corridor, and several residents developed symptoms of suffocation after inhaling toxic gases.
  • 地下室空气不流通，他感到快要窒息，急忙推开门。 Dìxiàshì kōngqì bù liútōng, tā gǎndào kuàiyào zhìxī, jímáng tuīkāi mén. The air in the basement was stuffy; feeling as if he were about to suffocate, he hastily pushed open the door.
  • 高原空气稀薄，初到的人容易感到胸闷甚至窒息。 Gāoyuán kōngqì xībó, chū dào de rén róngyì gǎndào xiōngmèn shènzhì zhìxī. The air on the plateau is thin, so newcomers easily feel tightness in the chest or even suffocation.

Related words

All HSK 9 words →