chōu
pump; take out; shrink; pick out
我抽了一支烟。
wǒ chōu le yī zhī yān.
I smoked a cigarette.
他正在抽烟。
tā zhèngzài chōu yān.
He is smoking.
她不抽烟。
tā bù chōu yān.
She doesn't smoke.
拔 (bā)
to pull out
取 (qǔ)
to take
合 (hé)
combine
收 (shōu)
collect
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The Chinese character 抽 (chōu) is composed of two parts: the radical 扌(shǒu), which indicates an action related to the hand, and the phonetic component 抽 (chōu), which represents the sound. The original meaning of 抽 is "to pull out" or "to extract", which can be seen in its use in words like 抽烟 (chōuyān, "to smoke") and 抽水 (chōushuǐ, "to pump water"). Over time, the meaning of 抽 has expanded to include other related concepts, such as "to select" or "to choose", as in 抽签 (chōuqiān, "to draw lots") and 抽奖 (chōujiǎng, "to win a prize in a lottery"). The character 抽 can also be used in a more abstract sense, to mean "to experience" or "to suffer", as in 抽搐 (chōuchù, "to twitch") and 抽泣 (chōuqì, "to sob").
