拨 (bō): to push aside with the hand, foot, a stick etc, to dial, to allocate
拨 (bō) is a Chinese character meaning “to push aside with the hand, foot, a stick etc.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (structural) and 发 (structural). It ranks #1790 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 拨 to dispatch 发 goods by hand 扌. 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 push aside with the hand, foot, a stick etc
- to dial
- to allocate
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTo dispatch 发 goods by hand 扌
Decomposition: ⿰扌发 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 拨 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 拨
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 拨号 | bō hào | to dial a telephone number |
| 拨款 | bō kuǎn | to allocate funds |
| 土拨鼠 | tǔ bō shǔ | (zoology) marmot (in the US, esp. groundhog or woodchuck) |
| 拨通 | bō tōng | to get through to sb on the phone |
| 拨开 | bō kāi | to push aside |
| 挑拨 | tiǎo bō | to incite disharmony |
| 挑拨离间 | tiǎo bō lí jiàn | to sow dissension (idiom) |
| 拨弄 | bō nòng | to move to and fro (with hand, foot, stick etc) |
| 拨乱反正 | bō luàn fǎn zhèng | bring order out of chaos |
| 拨云见日 | bō yún jiàn rì | lit. to dispel the clouds and see the sun (idiom) |
| 拨动 | bō dòng | to stir |
| 拨冗 | bō rǒng | to find time to do sth in the midst of pressing affairs |
| 四两拨千斤 | sì liǎng bō qiān jīn | lit. four ounces can move a thousand catties (idiom) |
| 拨浪鼓 | bō lang gǔ | rattle drum |
| 拨火棍 | bō huǒ gùn | poker |
拨 appears in 40 compound words: 65 as the first character, 15 as the last, and 20 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 拨 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (6)
to bring order out of chaos; to set right what have been thrown into disorder; to restore justice
to incite one person against another; to drive a wedge between; to foment disunity and dissension; to sow discord
to incite a quarrel (idiom); to sow discord between people; to tell tales; to make mischief
to bring order out of chaos; to set right what have been thrown into disorder; to restore justice
to incite one person against another; to drive a wedge between; to foment disunity and dissension; to sow discord
to incite a quarrel (idiom); to sow discord between people; to tell tales; to make mischief
Showing 5 of 6 idioms containing 拨.
Example Sentences
请拨打这个电话号码，联系客服中心。
Qǐng bōdǎ zhè gè diànhuà hàomǎ, liánxì kèfú zhōngxīn.
Please dial this phone number to contact the customer service center.
在葡萄牙,拨打 SNS24 接受紧急医院护理是强制性...
zài pú táo yá , bō dǎ jiē shòu jǐn jí yī yuàn hù lǐ shì qiáng zhì xìng . . .
In Portugal, calling SNS24 for emergency hospital care is mandatory...
消息指外汇基金转拨1,500亿元占总资产规模小 属单次性安...
xiāo xī zhǐ wài huì jī jīn zhuǎn bō , yì yuán zhàn zǒng zī chǎn guī mó xiǎo shǔ dān cì xìng ān . . .
According to the news, the Exchange Fund transferred 150 billion yuan, accounting for the small scale of total assets, which is a one-time security...
...伟纶:明天预算案将公布宏福苑长远居住安排拨款详情
. . . wěi 纶 míng tiān yù suàn àn jiāng gōng bù hóng fú 苑 cháng yuǎn jū zhù ān pái bō kuǎn xiáng qíng
... Wei Lun: Tomorrow's Budget will announce the details of the allocation for long-term living arrangements at Hung Fook Court
政府加码拨款 澳首条高铁预计2028年动工
zhèng fǔ jiā mǎ bō kuǎn ào shǒu tiáo gāo tiě yù jì nián dòng gōng
The government has increased funding Australia's first high-speed rail is expected to start construction in 2028
拨乱反正:和委会还不如金砖上合
bō luàn fǎn zhèng hé wěi huì hái bù rú jīn zhuān shàng gě
Rectifying the situation: The Peace and Cooperation Council is no match for BRICS or the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
对不起，您拨打的用户暂时无法接通。
Duìbuqǐ, nín bōdǎ de yònghù zànshí wúfǎ jiētōng.
Sorry. The number you have dialled is currently unavailable.
在紧急情况下，可拨打 119。
Zài jǐnjí qíngkuàng xià, kě bōdǎ 119.
In case of emergency, call 119.
好的。房间里长途电话可以直拨吗？
Hǎo de. fángjiān lǐ chángtúdiànhuà kěyǐ zhí bō ma?
Good. Can you make long distance calls from the room?
您能帮我拨号吗？电话机放得太高了。
Nín néng bāng wǒ bōhào ma? diànhuàjī fàng de tài gāo le.
Can you help me dial? The telephone is put too high.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 拨 (bō) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 拨 and 拉?
How many strokes does 拨 have?
What is the radical of 拨?
What are the components of 拨?
What are common words containing 拨?
What characters sound the same as 拨 (bō)?
Is 拨 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 拨 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.