寸
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a unit of length; inch; thumb
3 strokes
Dict coverage rank #1,701 U+5BF8
How 寸 is formed
Ideographic compound (会意字)
A hand with a dot indicating where the pulse can be felt, about an inch up the wrist
How to remember it
Chinese inch · Heisig RSH #166
a drop of + 十 ten — as a component also called: glue, glued to
Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.
Characters built with 寸 as their sound component
These characters all use 寸 (cùn) as their phonetic component — compare how they read:
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 寸 sound component | cùn | inch; small, tiny |
| 村 | cūn | village, hamlet; vulgar, uncouth |
| 寻 | xún | to seek; to search for, to look for; ancient |
| 衬 | chèn | underwear, lining; in contrast |
| 纣 | zhòu | saddle strap, harness; an emperor |
| 忖 | cǔn | to guess, to ponder, to suppose |
| 酎 | zhòu | double-fermented wine, vintage wine |
Words containing 寸
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 尺有所短，寸有所长 | chǐ yǒu suǒ duǎn , cùn yǒu suǒ cháng | lit. for some things a foot may be too short, and for the other an inch will suffice (prov… |
| 寸草不生 | cùn cǎo bù shēng | (idiom) barren; devoid of vegetation |
| 手无寸铁 | shǒu wú cùn tiě | lit. not an inch of steel (idiom); unarmed and defenseless |
| 一寸光阴一寸金 | yī cùn guāng yīn yī cùn jīn | (saying) time is precious |
| 方寸大乱 | fāng cùn dà luàn | (idiom) to become agitated; to get worked up |
| 寸步难行 | cùn bù nán xíng | unable to move a single step (idiom); to be in an (extremely) difficult situation |
| 寸步不离 | cùn bù bù lí | to follow sb closely (idiom); to keep close to |
| 一寸光阴一寸金，寸金难买寸光阴 | yī cùn guāng yīn yī cùn jīn , cùn jīn nán mǎi cùn guāng yīn | (lit.) an interval of time is worth an ounce of gold, money cannot buy you time (saying); … |
| 三寸不烂之舌 | sān cùn bù làn zhī shé | to have a silver tongue; to have the gift of the gab |
| 鼠目寸光 | shǔ mù cùn guāng | short-sighted |
| 没分寸 | méi fēn cùn | inappropriate; bad-mannered |
| 寸金难买寸光阴 | cùn jīn nán mǎi cùn guāng yīn | An ounce of gold can't buy you an interval of time (idiom); Money can't buy you time.; Tim… |
| 寸步难移 | cùn bù nán yí | see 寸步難行|寸步难行[cun4 bu4 nan2 xing2] |
| 三寸金莲 | sān cùn jīn lián | (historical) bound foot (esp. one only three inches long, considered the ideal size of a w… |
| 寸口脉 | cùn kǒu mài | pulse taken at the wrist (TCM) |
| 得寸进尺 | dé cùn jìn chǐ | lit. win an inch, want a foot (idiom); fig. not satisfied with small gains; give him an in… |
| 市寸 | shì cùn | cun (Chinese unit of length equal to ⅓ decimeter) |
| 寸头 | cùn tóu | (male hair style) crew cut; butch cut |
| 头寸 | tóu cùn | (finance) cash position; position |
| 分寸 | fēn cun | propriety; appropriate behavior; proper speech or action; within the norms |