verb HSK 4
Traditional 退燒
to reduce fever · to bring down a fever · for a fever to subside
Meaning
This verb means to reduce or eliminate a fever. It can be used both transitively (someone reduces the fever with medicine) and intransitively (the fever goes down on its own). The word combines 退 (to retreat/recede) with 烧 (to burn/fever), literally meaning 'the burning retreats.'
Usage
Commonly used in medical contexts and everyday conversation about illness. Parents often say '退烧了' when their child's fever has gone down. The word is frequently paired with 退烧药 (fever-reducing medicine) and 退烧贴 (fever-reducing patches). It's neutral register and appropriate for both spoken and written language.
Examples
- 01孩子吃了退烧药以后，体温慢慢降下来了。, .After the child took the fever-reducing medicine, their temperature slowly came down.
- 02他终于退烧了，现在感觉好多了。, .His fever finally broke, and now he feels much better.
Characters
Common collocations
- 退烧药fever-reducing medicine, antipyretic
- 退烧贴fever-reducing patch
- 退烧了the fever has gone down
- 帮助退烧to help reduce fever
Antonyms
Origin
The compound combines 退 (to retreat) and 烧 (burn/fever), creating a metaphor where the fever is conceptualized as heat that retreats from the body.