Chinese word

烧

Pronunciation

Pinyinshāo

Meaning

  • verbburn

Example

别乱烧东西。bié luàn shāo dōng xī

Don't burn things carelessly.

Illustration for 烧 (burn)

More examples

周末我们在公园烧烤。zhōu mò wǒ men zài gōng yuán shāo kǎo

We had a barbecue in the park over the weekend.

Core concept

Heat drives a visible change: it makes food ready, sets material alight, or leaves a body unusually hot.

Common phrases

  • 烧水shāo shuǐ

    boil water

  • 烧烤shāo kǎo

    barbecue

  • 烧掉shāo diào

    burn up

Similar words

炒chǎo: Stir food as it cooks quickly in a little hot oil.
煮zhǔ: Cook food by placing it in boiling water or soup and simmering it.
烤kǎo: Cook food with a flame or oven heat until it is browned outside and done inside.
蒸zhēng: Cook food by surrounding it with hot steam until it is soft and fully done.

Definition in Chinese

用热或明火处理食材使其熟或变味，亦可用于表示将物体烧毁或描述身体发热的状态。yòng rè huò míng huǒ chú lǐ shí cái shǐ qí shú huò biàn wèi yì kě yòng yú biǎo shì jiāng wù tǐ shāo huǐ huò miáo shù shēn tǐ fā rè de zhuàng tài

Word origin

The character 烧 (shāo, "burn") uses a fire-related part for meaning and a sound-giving part, linking its written form to its original fire-based sense, which extends to cooking and other heat effects.

Usage tips

  • English usually separates cooking from burning more sharply, while 烧 (shāo, "burn") can cover several heat-related readings, so the object and context determine the best English verb.

Other meanings

  • cookverb
  • catch fireverb

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word