凑

湊

còu

冫 + 奏

HSK 3.0Level 7

Definitions

còu (verb) to gather together; to collect

còu (verb) to move close to

còu (verb) to happen by chance

Etymology phono-semantic

ice

Semantic: 冫 Phonetic: 奏

About

凑 is a phono-semantic compound pairing the phonetic 奏 (zòu) with a radical. The traditional form 湊 uses the water radical (氵) to suggest the confluence of streams, while the simplified form uses the ice radical (冫). The original meaning, the physical convergence of water, broadened to the assembling of people, the collection of disparate items, or the pooling of resources for a common purpose. Later, it also came to denote happening by chance, moving closer to something, or scraping together just enough of a resource to meet a specific need.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

我们凑钱买礼物。

Wǒmen còu qián mǎi lǐwù.

We pool money to buy a gift.

他凑过来听故事。

Tā còu guòlai tīng gùshi.

He moved closer to listen to the story.

今天凑巧遇见你。

Jīntiān còuqiǎo yùjiàn nǐ.

Today I happened to meet you by chance.

我们凑合着用吧。

Wǒmen còuhe zhe yòng ba.

Let's make do with it.

大家凑在一起讨论问题。

Dàjiā còu zài yīqǐ tǎolùn wèntí.

Everyone gathered together to discuss the problem.

为了凑足人数，他邀请了更多朋友。

Wèile còu zú rénshù, tā yāoqǐng le gèng duō péngyou.

In order to gather enough people, he invited more friends.

虽然时间很紧，但我们还是凑出了方案。

Suīrán shíjiān hěn jǐn, dàn wǒmen háishì còu chū le fāng'àn.

Although time was tight, we still managed to put together a plan.

在资金不足的情况下，他们东拼西凑才完成了项目。

Zài zījīn bùzú de qíngkuàng xià, tāmen dōng pīn xī còu cái wánchéng le xiàngmù.

Under the circumstance of insufficient funds, they completed the project by scraping together resources from everywhere.

Related Characters

Component: 冫

Component: 奏

凑