捕 (bǔ): to catch, to seize, to capture
捕 (bǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “to catch.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (semantic) and 甫 (phonetic). It ranks #1304 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 捕 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 catch
- to seize
- to capture
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 捕 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 逮捕verb | dài bǔ | to arrest |
| 被捕verb | bèi bǔ | to be arrested |
| 追捕verb | zhuī bǔ | to pursue |
| 拘捕verb | jū bǔ | to arrest |
| 捕捉verb | bǔ zhuō | to catch |
| 抓捕verb | zhuā bǔ | to seize |
| 搜捕verb | sōu bǔ | to hunt and arrest (fugitives) |
| 捕鱼verb | bǔ yú | to catch fish |
| 捕获verb | bǔ huò | to catch |
| 捕猎verb | bǔ liè | to catch (wild animals) |
| 拒捕verb | jù bǔ | to resist arrest |
| 捕杀verb | bǔ shā | to hunt and kill (an animal or fish) |
| 捕食verb | bǔ shí | to prey on |
| 围捕verb | wéi bǔ | to fish by casting a net |
| 诱捕verb | yòu bǔ | to trap (an animal) |
捕 appears in 48 compound words: 48 as the first character, 35 as the last, and 17 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 捕 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
渔民们出海捕鱼，希望能有个好收成。
Yúmínmen chū hǎi bǔ yú, xīwàng néng yǒu gè hǎo shōucheng.
The fishermen went out to sea to catch fish, hoping for a good harvest.
愛潑斯坦案|英國前駐美大使文德森被捕 涉公職人員行為失當
愛 潑 sī tǎn àn yīng 國 qián 駐 měi dà shǐ wén dé sēn bèi bǔ shè gōng 職 rén 員 háng 為 shī 當
Epstein Case | Former British Ambassador to the US Vindson Arrested on Charges of Misconduct in Public Office
英國前駐美大使曼德爾森因涉行為不當被捕 加劇斯塔默面臨的政治危機
yīng 國 qián 駐 měi dà shǐ 曼 dé 爾 sēn yīn shè háng 為 bù 當 bèi bǔ jiā 劇 sī tǎ mò miàn 臨 de zhèng zhì wēi 機
Former British Ambassador to the US Mandelson Arrested Over Alleged Misconduct, Deepening Political Crisis for Starmer
...環死亡 警列「殘酷對待動物」調查未有人被捕
. . . 環 sǐ wáng jǐng liè 殘 kù 對 dài 動 wù 調 chá wèi yǒu rén bèi bǔ
... No arrests made in 'cruelty to animals' investigation
...遭拘罰18億 扛布者:疑被中國政府「遠洋捕撈」
. . . zāo jū 罰 億 gāng bù zhě yí bèi zhōng 國 zhèng fǔ 遠 yáng bǔ 撈
... Chinese Government Suspected of "Overseas Capture" of Fabric Carriers
涉行贿800万换取贷款申请 反贪会捕前电讯公司董事
shè háng huì wàn huàn qǔ dài kuǎn shēn qǐng fǎn tān huì bǔ qián diàn xùn gōng sī dǒng shì
Ex-Telecom Director Arrested by Anti-Corruption Commission for Taking $8 Million in Bribes in Exchange for Loan Applications
警察拘捕了这个窃贼。
Jǐngchá jūbǔ le zhège qièzéi.
The police officers arrested the burglar.
汤姆因无证驾驶而被逮捕。
Tāngmǔ yīn wú zhèng jiàshǐ ér bèi dàibǔ.
Tom was arrested for driving without a licence.
为什么汤姆没被捕？
Wèi shénme Tāngmǔ méi bèibǔ?
Why wasn't Tom arrested?
他们利用陷阱捕捉狐狸。
Tāmen lìyòng xiànjǐng bǔzhuō húli.
Using a trap, they caught the fox.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 捕 (bǔ) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 捕 and 铺?
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What are common words containing 捕?
What characters sound the same as 捕 (bǔ)?
Is 捕 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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