Chinese word

缩水

Pronunciation

Pinyinsuō shuǐ

Meaning

  • verbshrink

Example

这件衣服会缩水。zhè jiàn yī fú huì suō shuǐ

This piece of clothing will shrink.

Illustration for 缩水 (shrink)

More examples

疫情冲击下，旅游业收入大幅缩水。yì qíng chōng jī xià lǚ yóu yè shōu rù dà fú suō shuǐ

Tourism revenue shrank sharply under the impact of the pandemic.

Core concept

A thing becomes smaller in size, volume, or amount after an outside change.

Common phrases

  • 工资缩水gōng zī suō shuǐ

    wages shrink

  • 利润缩水lì rùn suō shuǐ

    profits shrink

  • 库存缩水kù cún suō shuǐ

    inventory shrink

Similar words

收缩shōu suō: Contract in volume or length because of temperature changes or physical force.
缩小suō xiǎo: Reduce the overall size, area, scale, or quantity.
缩短suō duǎn: Shorten a physical length or a period of time.

Definition in Chinese

指由于受热、洗涤、潮湿或其他原因导致物体（尤指衣物）尺寸、体积或数量减少的过程或结果。zhǐ yóu yú shòu rè xǐ dí cháo shī huò qí tā yuán yīn dǎo zhì wù tǐ yóu zhǐ yī wù chǐ cùn tǐ jī huò shù liàng jián shǎo de guò chéng huò jié guǒ

Word origin

The compound is formed from 缩 (suō, "contract") + 水 (shuǐ, "water"), a compact image of cloth contracting during washing that extends to reduced amounts.

Usage tips

  • In everyday conversation, this verb can describe clothes as well as figures such as sales or budgets, while the surrounding noun shows whether the reduction is physical or numerical.

Other meanings

  • decreaseverb

Opposites

Related words

  • 缩水率suō shuǐ lǜshrinkage ratenoun

Word lists with this word