巢 (cháo): nest
巢 (cháo) is a Chinese character meaning “nest.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 巛 (structural) and 果 (structural). It ranks #2236 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 巢 a nest 巛田 built in a tree 木. Its radical form 巛 (river) appears in many related characters such as 川 (chuān, (bound form) river), 州 (zhōu, prefecture).
Definitions
- nest
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA nest 巛田 built in a tree 木
Decomposition: ⿱巛果 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 巢 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 巢穴noun | cháo xué | lair |
| 卵巢noun | luǎn cháo | ovary |
| 老巢 | lǎo cháo | (fig.) lair |
| 蜂巢noun | fēng cháo | honeycomb |
| 鸟巢noun | niǎo cháo | bird's nest |
| 筑巢verb | zhù cháo | to nest |
| 雀巢 | què cháo | Nestlé |
| 窝巢 | wō cháo | nest |
| 蚁巢noun | yǐ cháo | ant nest |
| 黄巢起义 | huáng cháo qǐ yì | Huang Chao peasant uprising 875-884 in late Tang, led by Huang Chao |
| 倾巢而出phrase | qīng cháo ér chū | the whole nest came out (idiom) |
| 黄巢之乱 | huáng cháo zhī luàn | late Tang peasant uprising 875-884 led by Huang Chao |
| 覆巢之下无完卵proverb | fù cháo zhī xià wú wán luǎn | lit. when the nest is upset no egg is left intact (idiom) |
| 暖巢管家 | nuǎn cháo guǎn jiā | housekeeper who looks after old people with no children or whose children do not live with them |
| 倾巢来犯 | qīng cháo lái fàn | to turn out in force ready to attack (idiom) |
巢 appears in 31 compound words: 10 as the first character, 55 as the last, and 35 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 巢 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (5)
housekeeper who looks after old people with no children or whose children do not live with them
housekeeper who looks after old people with no children or whose children do not live with them
Showing 4 of 5 idioms containing 巢.
Example Sentences
这个巢字的意思与它的部首有关。
zhè gě cháo zì de yì sī yú tā de bù shǒu yǒu guān .
The meaning of the character "巢" is related to its radical.
TVB主播谭诗雅宣布离巢疑好事近 曾两度选美与港姐季军为闺蜜
T V B zhǔ bō 谭 shī yǎ xuān bù lí cháo yí hǎo shì jìn céng liǎng dù xuǎn měi yǔ gǎng jiě jì jūn wéi guī mì
TVB anchor Tan Shiya announced that she was close to the nest and had two beauty pageants and the third runner-up of Miss Hong Kong as best friends
...最好的治疗办法有哪些?介入栓塞术会影响卵巢功能吗
. . . zuì hǎo de zhì liáo bàn fǎ yǒu nǎ xiē ? jiè rù shuān sāi shù huì yǐng xiǎng luǎn cháo gōng néng ma
... What are the best treatments? Does interventional embolization affect ovarian function?
兵眼观潮丨巢湖之畔,“看见”未来
bīng yǎn guàn cháo 丨 cháo hú zhī pàn , kàn jiàn wèi lái
Soldiers' eyes watch the tide丨On the shore of Chaohu Lake, "see" the future
避孕药吃多了会导致不孕吗?停药后卵巢功能能完全恢复吗
bì yùn yào chī duō le huì dǎo zhì bù yùn ma ? tíng yào hòu luǎn cháo gōng néng néng wán quán huī fù ma
Can taking too many birth control pills cause infertility? Can ovarian function be fully restored after stopping the drug?
“涨价”策略失灵叠加“黑天鹅”事件,雀巢忙“瘦身”自救
zhǎng jià cè lüè shī líng dié jiā hēi tiān é shì jiàn , qiāo cháo máng shòu shēn zì jiù
The failure of the "price increase" strategy superimposed on the "black swan" incident, Nestlé was busy "slimming" to save itself
很明显的，他们房前的树上筑巢。
Hěn míngxiǎn de, tāmen fáng qián de shù shàng zhù cháo.
Apparently, they nest in a tree in front of the house.
鸟一点一点地筑巢。
Niǎo yīdiǎnyīdiǎn de zhù cháo.
Little by little, the bird made his nest.
这两只鸟在没有建筑许可的情况下筑了巢。
Zhè liǎng zhī niǎo zài méiyǒu jiànzhù xǔkě de qíngkuàng xià zhù le cháo.
The two birds built a nest without a building permit.
鸟用细树枝筑巢。
Niǎo yòng xì shùzhī zhù cháo.
Birds build nests of twigs.
Character Family
巛 Radical Family — Characters sharing the river radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 巢 (cháo) mean in Chinese?
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What is the radical of 巢?
What are the components of 巢?
What are common words containing 巢?
What characters sound the same as 巢 (cháo)?
Is 巢 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 巢 with real-time feedback
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