拔 (bá): to pull up, to pull out, to draw out by suction
拔 (bá) is a Chinese character meaning “to pull up.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (semantic) and 犮 (phonetic). It ranks #1492 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 拔 hand. Its radical form 扌 (hand) appears in many related characters such as 手 (shǒu, hand), 打 (dǎ, hit, make), 找 (zhǎo, to look for).
Definitions
- to pull up
- to pull out
- to draw out by suction
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 拔 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 拔
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 拔掉 | bá diào | to pluck |
| 提拔 | tí bá | to promote to a higher job |
| 出类拔萃 | chū lèi bá cuì | to excel the common (idiom) |
| 自拔 | zì bá | to free oneself |
| 剑拔弩张 | jiàn bá nǔ zhāng | lit. with swords drawn and bows bent (idiom) |
| 拔河 | bá hé | tug-of-war |
| 拔牙 | bá yá | to extract a tooth |
| 挺拔 | tǐng bá | tall and straight |
| 坚韧不拔 | jiān rèn bù bá | firm and indomitable (idiom) |
| 拔腿 | bá tuǐ | to break into a run |
| 拔高 | bá gāo | to raise (one's voice) |
| 拔除 | bá chú | to pull out |
| 开拔 | kāi bá | to set out (of troops) |
| 拔营 | bá yíng | to strike camp |
| 拔尖 | bá jiān | top-notch (colloquial) |
拔 appears in 74 compound words: 54 as the first character, 28 as the last, and 18 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 拔 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (11)
firm and indomitable; persistent and dauntless; persevere in tenacious efforts
to be very greedy (such that every tasks completed by that person will have some money embezzled)
Showing 8 of 11 idioms containing 拔.
Example Sentences
请拔出你的证件，配合我们的工作。
qǐng bá chū nǐ de zhèng jiàn , pèi gě wǒ men de gōng zuò .
Please present your identification and cooperate with our work.
台管院2026年杰出大陆台商奖选拔开锣4月30日截止
tái guǎn yuàn 2 0 2 6 nián jié chū dà lù tái shāng jiǎng xuǎn bá kāi 锣 4 yuè 3 0 rì jié zhǐ
The selection of the 2026 Outstanding Mainland Taiwan Business Award of the Taiwan Management Institute will close on April 30
...计划名单公布涵48校 包括多间传统名校男拔、女拔等
. . . jì huá míng dān gōng bù hán 4 8 jiào bāo kuò duō jiān chuán tǒng míng jiào nán bá , nǚ bá děng
... The list of plans was announced, including 48 schools, including a number of traditional famous schools for boys and women
李贞秀要被拔了?卓荣泰禁索资 “过来人立委”喊话别怕...
lǐ zhēn xiù yāo bèi bá le ? zhuó róng tài jīn suǒ zī guò lái rén lì wěi hǎn huà bié pà . . .
Li Zhenxiu is going to be pulled out? Zhuo Rongtai prohibited soliciting funds "legislators who have been there" shouted not to be afraid...
吴中纯癌逝!女儿揭“5分钟拔管过程” 泪崩曝遗物:一辈子留着
wú zhōng chún ái shì ! nǚ ér jiē 5 fēn zhōng bá guǎn guò chéng lèi bēng pù yí wù : yī bèi zǐ liú zhe
Wu Zhongchun died of cancer! The daughter revealed the "5-minute extubation process" and burst into tears to expose the relics: keep them for a lifetime
排球精英赛 男拔力阻长天衞冕实现7连霸
pái qiú jīng yīng sài nán bá lì zǔ cháng tiān 衞 冕 shí xiàn 7 lián bà
Volleyball Classic Men's Champion Defended Changtian Championship to achieve 7 consecutive championships
珠穆朗玛峰的海拔有多高？
Zhūmùlǎngmǎ Fēng de hǎibá yǒu duō gāo?
What is the height of Mt. Everest?
阿尔卑斯山脉义大利一侧的海拔通常较低。
ā'ěrbēisī shānmài Yìdàlì yī cè de hǎibá tōngcháng jiào dī.
The Alps are generally lower on the Italian side.
德国阿尔卑斯山的树线位于海拔约 1800 公尺处。
Déguó ā'ěrbēisī shān de shù xiàn wèiyú hǎibá yuē 1800 gōngchǐ chǔ.
The treeline in the German alps lies at an elevation of about 1800 meters.
你应该去看牙医，把牙拔掉。
Nǐ yīnggāi qù kàn yáyī, bǎ yá bádiào.
You should go to the dentist and have that tooth pulled out.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 拔 (bá) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 拔 and 推?
How many strokes does 拔 have?
What is the radical of 拔?
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What are common words containing 拔?
What characters sound the same as 拔 (bá)?
Is 拔 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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