少 - shǎo - Chinese character definition, English meaning and stroke order

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HSK 1 - Easy
4 strokes
Simplified (switch to Traditional)

少

shǎo

Definition

few
杯子里的水很少。

There's not much water in the glass.

这样的东西很少。

These are very few of this kind of things.
less
你应该少喝酒。

You should drink less alcohol.
little
最近我们很少见到他。

Recently, we've seen very little of him.
small
to lack
be short (of)
杯子里的水很少。

There's no much water in the glass.

Other pronunciations

shào

young

Character Decomposition

Compounds (17)

省

shěng

to save (money); province

炒

chǎo

to fry; to sauté; to stir-fry; to speculate; to hype; to fire (someone)

秒

miǎo

second (of time); unit of angle or arc equivalent to one sixtieth of a degree

沙

shā

granule; hoarse; raspy; sand; powder; abbr. for Tsar or Tsarist Russia

吵

chǎo

to make a noise; to disturb by making a noise; noisy; to argue; to quarrel; to squabble; to wrangle

抄

chāo

to make a copy; to plagiarize; to search and seize; to raid; to grab; to go off with; to take a shortcut; to make a turning move; to fold one's arms

clever; wonderful

sand; gravel; granule

cotton yarn; muslin

small bird; sparrow; also pr. [qiao3]

inferior

blind in one eye; blind; tiny; humble; to stare

省

xǐng

to inspect; to examine; to be aware; to pay a visit (to one's parents or elders)

杪

miǎo

the limit; tip of branch

a freckle; lentigo

clamor; uproar; annoyance

魦

shā

shark family, including some rays and skates

Related words (51)

a short while; soon

to add less (of a spice etc)

少数

shǎo shù

small number; few; minority

rare; infrequent

refrain (from doing sth); (coll.) Come on!; Give me a break!; Save it!

少见

shǎo jiàn

rare; not familiar (to the speaker); sth rarely experience; hard to see

a little; a few

(literary) a little while

少量

shǎo liàng

a smidgen; a little bit; a few

少间

shǎo jiàn

soon; a short while; a narrow gap; slightly better (state of health)

少顷

shǎo qǐng

in a short while; presently

少不了

shǎo bu liǎo

cannot do without; cannot dispense (with); to be indispensable; to be bound (to); to be unavoidable; are bound to be many; to be a lot of difficulties; must be a lot

少不得

shǎo bu dé

cannot be avoided; cannot do without

少块肉

shǎo kuài ròu

(coll.) (usually used in the negative) (can't) hurt (to do sth); (won't) hurt (to do sth)

少根筋

shǎo gēn jīn

(coll.) dim-witted; foolish; absent-minded

少阳病

shǎo yáng bìng

name of disease in TCM

少阳经

shǎo yáng jīng

one of the channels of TCM

少之又少

shǎo zhī yòu shǎo

very few; very little

少安毋躁

shǎo ān wú zào

keep calm, don't get excited; don't be impatient

少数民族

shǎo shù mín zú

national minority; ethnic group

少突胶质

shǎo tū jiāo zhì

oligodendrocytes (Greek: cells with few branches), a type of cell in central nervous system; oligodendroglia

少数民族乡

shǎo shù mín zú xiāng

ethnic township (formal village level subdivision of PRC county)

many; a lot; not few

to reduce; to decrease; to lessen

多少

duō shǎo

how many; how much; which (number); as much as; amount

最少

zuì shǎo

at least; minimum; lowest (amount); minimal

极少

jí shǎo

very little; very few

短少

duǎn shǎo

to be short of the full amount

sparse; rare

lack; to lack; to be in want (of); to be short (of); shortage (of)

at least

less

too few; insufficient

very few; rarely

extremely few; a small minority

indispensable

to some extent; more or less

多少有些

duō shǎo yǒu xiē

somewhat; more or less

多退少补

duō tuì shǎo bǔ

to either refund an overcharge or ask for a surcharge in case of a price change

必不可少

bì bù kě shǎo

essential; indispensable; absolutely necessary

more or less

lieutenant commander (= UK and US Navy equivalent)

狼多肉少

láng duō ròu shǎo

many wolves and not enough meat; not enough to go around

see 僧多粥少

brainless; stupid

short of food and clothing; destitute

也好不了多少

yě hǎo bu liǎo duō shǎo

hardly any better; just as bad

多栽花少栽刺

duō zāi huā shǎo zāi cì

talk nicely and avoid disputes; give compliments and not remarks

必不可少组成

bì bù kě shǎo zǔ chéng

absolute necessity; sine qua non

钱多事少离家近

qián duō shì shǎo lí jiā jìn

lots of money, less work, and close to home; ideal job

发热伴血小板减少综合征

fā rè bàn xuè xiǎo bǎn jiǎn shǎo zōng hé zhēng

severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS)

Idioms (7)

少见多怪

shǎo jiàn duō guài

(lit.) rarely seen, very strange (idiom); to express amazement due to lack of experience; naive expression of excitement due to ignorance

人烟稀少

rén yān xī shǎo

no sign of human habitation (idiom); desolate

以少胜多

yǐ shǎo shèng duō

using the few to defeat the many (idiom); to win from a position of weakness

僧多粥少

sēng duō zhōu shǎo

(lit.) many monks and not much gruel (idiom); (fig.) not enough to go around; demand exceeds supply

凶多吉少

xiōng duō jí shǎo

everything bodes ill, no positive signs (idiom); inauspicious; everything points to disaster

寡二少双

guǎ èr shǎo shuāng

peerless; second to none (idiom)

多一事不如少一事

duō yī shì bù rú shǎo yī shì

it is better to avoid unnecessary trouble (idiom); the less complications the better

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