操 (cāo): to grasp, to hold, to operate
操 (cāo) is a Chinese character meaning “to grasp.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (semantic) and 喿 (phonetic). It ranks #1170 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 操 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 grasp
- to hold
- to operate
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 操 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 操
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 操纵verb | cāo zòng | to operate |
| 操心verb | cāo xīn | to worry about |
| 曹操 | cáo cāo | Cao Cao (155-220), famous statesman and general at the end of Han, noted poet and calligrapher, later warlord, founde... |
| 重操旧业phrase | chóng cāo jiù yè | (idiom) to resume one's old trade |
| 贞操noun | zhēn cāo | (usually of women) chastity |
| 操之过急phrase | cāo zhī guò jí | to act with undue haste (idiom) |
| 操作员noun | cāo zuò yuán | operator |
| 操守noun | cāo shǒu | personal integrity |
| 稳操胜券phrase | wěn cāo shèng quàn | grasp it and victory is assured |
| 操办verb | cāo bàn | to arrange matters |
| 操劳verb | cāo láo | to work hard |
| 操作系统noun | cāo zuò xì tǒng | operating system |
| 操纵杆noun | cāo zòng gǎn | joystick |
| 操练verb | cāo liàn | drill |
| 自由体操noun | zì yóu tǐ cāo | floor (gymnastics) |
操 appears in 87 compound words: 51 as the first character, 29 as the last, and 21 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 操 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (9)
(cf Book of Songs) How to fashion an ax handle? You need an ax; fig. to follow a principle; fig. to act as matchmaker
to fight one another; to fight each other who is in the same group; to have internal conflict or strife
Example Sentences
请操出你的证件，配合我们的工作。
qǐng cāo chū nǐ de zhèng jiàn , pèi gě wǒ men de gōng zuò .
Please produce your identification and cooperate with our investigation.
枸杞泡水、做养生操:这些美国人正努力活得像中国人
枸 杞 pāo shuǐ , zuò yǎng shēng cāo : zhè xiē měi guó rén zhèng nǔ lì huó dé xiàng zhōng guó rén
Goji berries soaked in water, doing health exercises: these Americans are trying to live like Chinese
卡尔梅科娃体操世界杯德国站勇夺双金
kǎ ěr méi kē wá tǐ cāo shì jiè bēi dé guó zhàn yǒng duó shuāng jīn
Kalmykova won double gold at the Gymnastics World Cup in Germany
江沐洋:2.24今日黄金原油走势午夜凌晨操作建议-FX168
jiāng mù yáng : 2 . 2 4 jīn rì huáng jīn yuán yóu zǒu shì wǔ yè líng chén cāo zuò jiàn yì F X 1 6 8
Jiang Muyang: 2.24 Today's gold and crude oil trend midnight and early morning operation suggestions - FX168
江沐洋:2.24国际黄金原油走势分析操作思路-FX168
jiāng mù yáng : 2 . 2 4 guó jì huáng jīn yuán yóu zǒu shì fēn xī cāo zuò sī lù F X 1 6 8
Jiang Muyang: 2.24 International gold and crude oil trend analysis operation ideas-FX168
预防干眼症、黄斑部病变:食疗与四招护眼操
yù fáng gān yǎn zhèng , huáng bān bù bìng biàn : shí liáo yǔ sì zhāo hù yǎn cāo
Prevent dry eye syndrome and macular degeneration: diet therapy and four-way eye care exercises
这台机器很容易操作。
Zhè tái jīqì hěn róngyì cāozuò.
This machine is easy to handle.
分支和合并是版本控制的两种基本操作。
Fēnzhī héhé bìng shì bǎnběn kòngzhì de liǎng zhǒng jīběn cāozuò.
Branching and merging are two basic operations of revision control.
他能为你暗箱操作。
Tā néng wèi nǐ ànxiāngcāozuò.
He can pull strings for you.
未来飞行员将在模拟操作室中训练。
Wèilái fēixíngyuán jiāng zài mónǐ cāozuò shì zhōng xùnliàn.
The future pilot is trained in a mock cockpit.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 操 (cāo) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 操 and 澡?
How many strokes does 操 have?
What is the radical of 操?
What are the components of 操?
What are common words containing 操?
What characters sound the same as 操 (cāo)?
Is 操 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 操 with real-time feedback
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