刨 (bào): carpenter's plane, to plane (woodwork), to shave off

刨 (bào) is a Chinese character meaning “carpenter's plane.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 包 (phonetic) and 刂 (semantic). It ranks #2945 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 刨 knife. Its radical form 刂 (knife) appears in many related characters such as 分 (fēn, to divide), 别 (bié, to leave), 到 (dào, to reach).

Spoken pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 刂 knife7 strokesFrequency #2945包 phonetic 刂 semantic

Definitions

carpenter's plane
to plane (woodwork)
to shave off

Etymology & Origin

刨

pictophoneticknife

Decomposition: ⿰包刂 (layout: left-right)

Components:包phonetic 刂semantic

Stroke Order

Practice writing 刨 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
刨根问底phrase	páo gēn wèn dǐ	to dig up roots and inquire at the base (idiom)
刨冰noun	bào bīng	shaved or crushed ice dessert or beverage
刨子noun	bào zi	plane
刨床noun	bào chuáng	planer
刨根儿	páo gēn r	erhua variant of 刨根
龙门刨noun	lóng mén bào	double column surface grinding machine
刨花板noun	bào huā bǎn	particle board
刨丝器	bào sī qì	grater
刨工noun	bào gōng	planing
刨笔刀	bào bǐ dāo	pencil sharpener
刨根verb	páo gēn	lit. to dig up the root
刨程	bào chéng	planing length
刨花noun	bào huā	wood shavings
刨刀noun	bào dāo	planing tool
狗刨noun	gǒu páo	dog paddle (swimming style)

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

刨 appears in 16 compound words: 88 as the first character, 13 as the last, and 0 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 刨 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

冰bīng

0.512372 co-occurrences

钩gōu

0.45430 co-occurrences

瓜guā

0.43482 co-occurrences

坟fén

0.41818 co-occurrences

床chuáng

0.41572 co-occurrences

削xiāo

0.40742 co-occurrences

挖wā

0.39434 co-occurrences

椰yē

0.39410 co-occurrences

板bǎn

0.385106 co-occurrences

刀dāo

0.36952 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

刨根问底páogēnwèndǐHSK 7+

to get to the bottom of something

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

老师教我们刨字的发音和笔顺。

lǎo shī jiào wǒ men bào zì de fā yīn hé bǐ shùn .

The teacher taught us the pronunciation and stroke order of the character "刨."

中国新闻网·文化Jul 2026

当刨开上面约60厘米的表土后，丰富的瓷窑遗物即出现在眼前。

dāng bào kāi shàng miàn yuē 6 0 lí mǐ de biǎo tǔ hòu , fēng fù de cí yáo yí wù jí chū xiàn zài yǎn qián .

After removing about 60 centimeters of topsoil, a wealth of artifacts from the porcelain kiln came into view.

爱范儿Jun 2026

一个明明从地里刨出来的东西，硬是被写出了晶圆厂爬坡的味道。

yī gè míng míng cóng dì lǐ bào chū lái de dōng xī , yìng shì bèi xiě chū le jīng yuán hǎn pá pō de wèi dào .

Something that was clearly dug up from the ground has somehow been described in a way that evokes the atmosphere of a semiconductor fab ramp-up.

東方日報Apr 2026

嘉应不可能落败!CEO刨咗条单式三重彩!

jiā yīng bù kě néng luò bài ! C E O bào 咗 tiáo dān shì sān chóng cǎi !

Jia Ying can’t lose! The CEO hit a single-ticket triple jackpot!

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 刨 (bào) mean in Chinese?

刨 (bào) primarily means "carpenter's plane." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2945 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 刨 and 跑?

刨 (bào) and 跑 (pǎo) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 刂 vs 足 (same 包 component).

How many strokes does 刨 have?

刨 is written with 7 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.

What is the radical of 刨?

The radical associated with 刨 is 刂 (knife). This radical appears in many characters related to knife.

What are the components of 刨?

刨 is composed of: 包 (phonetic), 刂 (semantic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰包刂 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 刨?

Common words with 刨 include: 刨根问底 (páo gēn wèn dǐ, "to dig up roots and inquire at the base (idiom)"); 刨冰 (bào bīng, "shaved or crushed ice dessert or beverage"); 刨子 (bào zi, "plane"); 刨床 (bào chuáng, "planer"); 刨根儿 (páo gēn r, "erhua variant of 刨根"). There are over 16 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 刨 (bào)?

Several characters share the pronunciation bào: 胞 (placenta), 饱 (full), 保 (to protect, to guarantee), 报 (to report, newspaper). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 刨 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 刨 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 刨 with real-time feedback

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