收

Mandarin · pinyin shōu

Meanings

  1. to receive
  2. to accept
  3. to collect
  4. to put away
  5. to restrain
  6. to stop
  7. in care of (used on address line after name)
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Characters in this entry

收
shōu · gather together, collect; harvest
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1 · shou1

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sau1

Cantonese word readings for 收. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

character

  1. to arrest; to detain
  2. to receive; to be given
  3. to accept; to take in; to admit into
  4. to accept
  5. to put something away
  6. to collect; to gather
  7. (abbreviation, alt-of) short for 收購/收购 (shōugòu); to buy; to purchase
  8. to harvest; to reap
  9. to stop; to put an end to
  10. to restrain; to control
  11. to withdraw; to take back
  12. (colloquial) to finish (someone); to make (someone) a possession of oneself
  13. (Cantonese, of shops) to close
  14. (Cantonese) short for 收皮
  15. (Cantonese) to punish

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack