How to Write 泻 (xiè) — Meaning “to flow out rapidly; to have diarrhea”

Imagine you are writing (写) with a pen that suddenly sprays water (氵) everywhere – that messy, fast flow is 泻. Another way: picture a person writing a note about a waterfall, and the water pours out of the paper.

First write the water radical 氵 on the left with three strokes (dot, dot, lift). Then write the right part 写: start with a small dot on top, then a horizontal line, a vertical stroke down, a bottom horizontal, and finally a vertical hook. Keep the right side narrow so the character stays balanced.

The character 汊 (chà) means a fork in a river, while 泻 means a rapid flow out. Visually, 泻 has a dot on top of its right side (写), but 汊 uses the character 叉 (fork) on the right with a cross shape. Their meanings and pronunciations are completely different.

You usually see 泻 in medical words like 腹泻 (diarrhea) and 泻药 (laxative), or in literary descriptions like 倾泻 (to pour down). It is not commonly used alone in daily speech. In Chinese culture, 腹泻 is a common health topic, and 倾泻 often describes heavy rain or emotions bursting out.

Common words containing 泻 include: 腹泻 (fù xiè) — diarrhea; 倾泻 (qīng xiè) — to pour down; to gush out; 泻药 (xiè yào) — laxative.