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首

shǒu

1. measure word classifier: poems, songs

   他为她写了一首诗。

   Tā wèi tā xiě le yī shǒu shī.

   He wrote a poem for her.

2. noun head (written)

   他昂首挺胸地走上台。

   Tā áng shǒu tǐng xiōng de zǒu shàng tái.

   He walked onto the stage with his head held high.

3. noun leader; first; capital (as in 首都)

   北京是中国的首都。

   Běijīng shì Zhōngguó de shǒudū.

   Beijing is the capital of China.

4. adverb first; earliest (as in 首先, 首次)

   这部电影将在本周末首映。

   Zhè bù diànyǐng jiāng zài běn zhōumò shǒuyìng.

   This movie will premiere this weekend.

5. verb to surrender oneself to the police (legal, as in 自首)

   犯罪嫌疑人最终选择向警方自首。

   Fànzuì xiányírén zuìzhōng xuǎnzé xiàng jǐngfāng zìshǒu.

   The criminal suspect finally chose to surrender to the police.

The full ChinesePath dictionary entry for 首 includes audio for every reading and example sentence, more example sentences, collocations, synonyms and links to the course units where it is taught.