How to Write 眵 (chī) — Meaning “eye discharge”

Imagine waking up with so much eye discharge that you have "many" (多) little crusts on your eyes (目). The character literally shows an eye with "many" bits stuck to it, which matches the meaning of eye discharge.

Write the left radical 目 first (vertical strokes then inner lines), then the right component 多: start with the top 夕 (two strokes), then the bottom 夕. A common mistake is making the bottom 夕 too large or misaligning it — keep both 夕 parts similar in size and centered vertically.

眵 (chī) specifically means eye discharge, while 相 (xiāng/xiàng) means "mutual" or "appearance" and uses the wood radical 木. 盹 (dǔn) means "doze off" (as in 打盹) and has 目 on the left with 屯 (tún). The key difference is the right component: 多 for 眵, 木 for 相, and 屯 for 盹.

眵 is uncommon in daily speech but appears in the word 眵目糊 (chī mù hú, eye sleep) and in older or dialectal expressions. You might hear it in phrases like "擦眵" (wipe eye discharge) or see it in medical contexts describing eye secretions.

Common words containing 眵 include: 眵目糊 (chī mù hú) — eye discharge (sleep); 眵泪 (chī lèi) — eye discharge and tears; 擦眵 (cā chī) — To wipe away eye discharge.