输
to lose; to transport
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HSK level
- Pinyin
- shū
- Part of speech
- verb
- Level
- HSK 4
- Strokes
- 13
- Register
- neutral
- In episodes
- 1
Stroke order for 输
输 is written with 13 strokes. The animation replays automatically.
What does 输 mean?
输 (shū) is a verb with two everyday senses that feel unrelated to English speakers but share a root idea of 'sending something out.'
The first and most common in speech is 'to lose' a game, contest, bet, or fight — the direct opposite of 赢 (yíng, to win). You say 输了 (shū le) the moment your team is beaten. The second sense is 'to transport / to convey,' which lives inside compounds like 运输 (yùnshū, transportation) and 输血 (shūxuè, blood transfusion), and has extended into computing as 输入 (shūrù, to input, e.g.
typing a password). Unlike English 'lose,' 输 never means to misplace an object — that is 丢 (diū). And unlike 'lose' in 'lose weight,' 输 is only about losing a competition, not shedding something.
Memory hook: The 车 (chē, vehicle) radical hints at the 'transport' sense — a cart carrying something away; when you 'ship out' a match, you lose.
Hear 输 in real episodes
输 appears in 1 Fluentide podcast episode at natural native speed. Each sentence plays at the easiest difficulty it exists in — switch it to hear the same moment at your level, with full pinyin and English throughout.
这次选举，他的党输了。
In this election, his party lost.
Trump Loses the Midterms: Iran War, Gas Prices and Immigration Cost Republicans Both Chambers
Example sentences
我们队昨天输了。
Wǒmen duì zuótiān shū le.
Our team lost yesterday.
spoken
他不想输给对手。
Tā bù xiǎng shū gěi duìshǒu.
He doesn't want to lose to his opponent.
neutral
请输入你的密码。
Qǐng shūrù nǐ de mìmǎ.
Please enter your password.
neutral
这条路主要用来运输货物。
Zhè tiáo lù zhǔyào yòng lái yùnshū huòwù.
This road is mainly used to transport goods.
written
Common phrases with 输
Synonyms
败 (to be defeated) is more literary and often used for large-scale defeats — a war, an army, a business collapse (失败). 输 is the everyday word for losing a game or bet in speech.
Don't confuse 输 with
Frequently asked questions
Related words from the same episodes
Acquire it by listening
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