波 (bō): wave
波 (bō) is a Chinese character meaning “wave.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 皮 (phonetic). It ranks #664 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 波 water. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).
Definitions
- wave
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 波 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 波士顿proper-noun | bō shì dùn | Boston, capital of Massachusetts |
| 波特proper-noun | bō tè | (loanword) baud (computing) |
| 波兰proper-noun | bō lán | Poland |
| 波斯proper-noun | bō sī | Persia |
| 微波炉noun | wēi bō lú | microwave oven |
| 波多黎各proper-noun | bō duō lí gè | Puerto Rico, self-governing unincorporated territory of the United States |
| 波比 | bō bǐ | burpee (loanword) |
| 波动verb | bō dòng | to undulate |
| 阿波罗proper-noun | ā bō luó | Apollo (loanword) |
| 超声波noun | chāo shēng bō | ultrasound (scan) |
| 曼波noun | màn bō | (loanword) mambo (dance) |
| 波浪noun | bō làng | wave |
| 声波noun | shēng bō | sound wave |
| 微波noun | wēi bō | ripple |
| 波斯尼亚 | bō sī ní yà | Bosnia |
波 appears in 103 compound words: 51 as the first character, 47 as the last, and 2 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 波 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (19)
to give someone the eye; to cast coquettish glances at someone; to curry favour with someone secretly
Puerto Rico (a commonwealth, island and dependent territory of the United States in the Caribbean)
Bohemia (a cultural region in the west of the former Czechoslovakia and present-day Czech Republic)
to go with the flow; to swim with the tide; to act or behave the same way as the majority of others
to give someone the eye; to cast coquettish glances at someone; to curry favour with someone secretly
Puerto Rico (a commonwealth, island and dependent territory of the United States in the Caribbean)
Bohemia (a cultural region in the west of the former Czechoslovakia and present-day Czech Republic)
to go with the flow; to swim with the tide; to act or behave the same way as the majority of others
Showing 12 of 19 idioms containing 波.
Example Sentences
这次经济危机引发了一波又一波的裁员潮，很多行业都受到影响。
Zhè cì jīngjì wēijī yǐnfā le yì bō yòu yì bō de cáiyuán cháo, hěn duō hángyè dōu shòudào yǐngxiǎng.
This economic crisis has triggered wave after wave of layoffs, affecting many industries.
巴菲特执掌的最后一季 波克夏上季依然卖超美股
bā 菲 tè zhí zhǎng de zuì hòu yī jì bō kè xià shàng jì yī rán mài chāo měi gǔ
Buffett's last season at the helm Berkshire still sold more than U.S. stocks last season
2026第一波水逆来了!12星座本周运势出炉
2 0 2 6 dì yī bō shuǐ nì lái le ! 1 2 xīng zuò běn zhōu yùn shì chū lú
The first wave of water retrograde in 2026 is coming! The 12 zodiac signs are released this week
浙江省政府批复同意!宁波一大学将设新学院
zhè jiāng shěng zhèng fǔ pī fù tóng yì ! nìng bō yī dà xué jiāng shè xīn xué yuàn
Zhejiang Provincial Government Approves! A New College to Be Established at a University in Ningbo
(新春见闻)探访阿波迪科技小院:中国春节“撞上”巴..
xīn chūn jiàn wén tàn fǎng ā bō dí kē jì xiǎo yuàn zhōng guó chūn jié zhuàng shǎng bā . .
(Spring Festival Observations) Visiting Abodi Technology Courtyard: Chinese New Year Meets...
上海首波大客流已抵达!外滩、南京路、豫园.......
shǎng hǎi shǒu bō dà kè liú yǐ dǐ dá ! wài tān nán jīng lù yù yuán . . . . . . .
The first wave of large crowds has arrived in Shanghai! The Bund, Nanjing Road, Yuyuan Garden...
汤姆住在波士顿多久了？
Tāngmǔ zhù zài Bōshìdùn duōjiǔ le?
How long has Tom been living in Boston?
麦克叫他的狗波奇吗？
Màikè jiào tā de gǒu bō qí ma?
Does Mike call his dog Pochi?
你上个夏季在波士顿吗？
Nǐ shàngge xiàjì zài Bōshìdùn ma?
Were you in Boston last summer?
波士顿有动物园吗？
Bōshìdùn yǒu dòngwùyuán ma?
Is there a zoo in Boston?
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 氵 (water) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 波 (bō) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 波 and 被?
How many strokes does 波 have?
What is the radical of 波?
What are the components of 波?
What are common words containing 波?
What characters sound the same as 波 (bō)?
Is 波 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 波 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.