喘

• Pinyin: chuǎn
• Hanzi breakdown: 喘 = 口 (mouth) + 耑 (phonetic, related to 端) = to pant, gasp

Meaning

To pant; to gasp; to breathe heavily. Labored breathing, typically from exertion or illness.

Used for heavy breathing after exercise, during illness (asthma), or from strong emotions. 喘气 (to catch one's breath), 喘不过气 (unable to breathe) are common collocations. Can describe both physical and metaphorical breathlessness.

Examples

1. 他爬完楼梯后喘得说不出话来。 After climbing the stairs, he was panting so hard he couldn't speak.
2. 这只老狗趴在地上直喘气。 The old dog lay on the ground, panting heavily.
3. 工作压力大得让人喘不过气来。 The work pressure is so great it's suffocating.

Usage Guide

Context: physical state, everyday, medical

Tone: descriptive

Do Say

• 跑了一公里就喘成这样，得多锻炼了。(Panting like this after running just one kilometer — I need to exercise more.)
• 他有哮喘，跑步时容易喘。(He has asthma and easily gets out of breath when running.)

Don't Say

• 我喘了一口气 (For taking a breath, use 吸了一口气 — 喘 specifically means labored breathing)

Origin & History

Phono-semantic compound with 口 (mouth) as the semantic component and 耑 (端) as the phonetic component.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal