‘退烧’ literally means ‘to withdraw heat’ and is the standard Chinese term for reducing or bringing down a fever. The character 退 (tuì) means ‘to retreat, withdraw, or reduce’, while 烧 (shāo) means ‘fever’ or ‘feverish heat’. Together, they form a compound verb describing the process of lowering an elevated body temperature—whether through medication (e.g., acetaminophen), physical methods (e.g., cool compresses), or natural recovery.

This word is commonly used in medical contexts, daily health conversations, and parenting situations. It’s almost always used transitively (e.g., ‘给他退烧’) or reflexively (e.g., ‘烧退了’). Unlike English, which may say ‘break a fever’, Chinese focuses on the active reduction of heat—hence the verb-like nature of the phrase. It does not refer to preventing fever onset, only to lowering existing fever.