tūn
swallow; gulp; annex; possess
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他一口气把药吞了下去。
tā yī kǒu qì bǎ yào tūn xià qù le.
He swallowed the medicine in one gulp.
她吞吞吐吐地说不出话来。
tā tūn tūn tǔ tǔ de shuō bù chū huà lái.
She stammered and couldn't speak.
这块肉太硬了，我吞不下去。
zhè kuài ròu tài yìng le, wǒ tūn bù xià qù.
This meat is too tough, I can't swallow it.
吐 (tù)
vomit
吐出 (tùchū)
spit out
The Chinese character 吞 (tūn) is composed of two parts: the radical 口 (kǒu), which means "mouth," and the phonetic component吞 (tūn), which is a simplified form of the character 吞 (tūn), meaning "to swallow." The character 吞 (tūn) first appeared in oracle bone script, the earliest known form of Chinese writing, and has been used continuously ever since.The original meaning of 吞 (tūn) was "to swallow," and this meaning is still used today. However, the character has also developed a number of other meanings, including "to absorb," "to engulf," "to annex," and "to usurp." In addition, 吞 (tūn) is also used in a number of idioms and proverbs, such as "吞天吐地" (tūn tiān tǔ dì), which means "to swallow the sky and spit out the earth," and "吞舟之鱼" (tūn zhōu zhī yú), which means "a fish that can swallow a boat."The character 吞 (tūn) is a versatile character with a rich history and a variety of meanings. It is an important character for HSK learners to know, as it is used in a wide range of contexts.
