抄 (chāo): to make a copy, to plagiarize, to search and seize
抄 (chāo) is a Chinese character meaning “to make a copy.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (semantic) and 少 (phonetic). It ranks #2162 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 抄 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 make a copy
- to plagiarize
- to search and seize
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 抄 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 包抄 | bāo chāo | to outflank |
| 抄袭 | chāo xí | to plagiarize |
| 抄写 | chāo xiě | to copy |
| 抄本 | chāo běn | handwritten copy |
| 抄录 | chāo lù | to make a copy of |
| 查抄 | chá chāo | to take inventory of and confiscate a criminal's possessions |
| 照抄 | zhào chāo | to copy word for word |
| 手抄本 | shǒu chāo běn | manuscript copy of a book (before the printing press) |
| 抄件 | chāo jiàn | duplicate (copy) |
| 抄家 | chāo jiā | to search a house and confiscate possessions |
| 摘抄 | zhāi chāo | to extract |
| 抄查 | chāo chá | to search and confiscate |
| 抄送 | chāo sòng | to make a copy (and send it to someone) |
| 一言抄百总 | yī yán chāo bǎi zǒng | to cut a long story short |
| 小抄儿 | xiǎo chāo r | erhua variant of 小抄[xiao3 chao1] |
抄 appears in 34 compound words: 62 as the first character, 24 as the last, and 15 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 抄 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
请把这些资料抄写一遍，加深记忆。
Qǐng bǎ zhèxiē zīliào chāoxiě yī biàn, jiāshēn jìyì.
Please copy these materials once to reinforce memory.
...一谦称“二三线” 自爆成医生界“公敌”忙抄牌 保证:戴婚戒的绝不招惹
. . . yī qiān chèn èr sān xiàn zì bào chéng yī shēng jiè gōng dí máng chāo pái bǎo zhèng : dài hūn jiè de jué bù zhāo rě
...Yi Jian refers to himself as a "second- or third-tier" doctor, admits he’s become the "public enemy" of the medical community and is constantly being reported, and promises: "I’ll never mess with anyone wearing a wedding ring."
来抄作业啦,🇰🇷韩国萧邦小冰块这么买哦
lái chāo zuò yè lā , hán guó xiāo bāng xiǎo bīng kuài zhè má mǎi é
Time to copy the homework! 🇰🇷 Here's how to buy Chopard's "Little Ice Cubes" in Korea
“哈”味烟弹!柬国遥控毒工厂被抄了
hā wèi yān dàn ! jiǎn guó yáo kòng dú gōng hǎn bèi chāo le
"Har" Vape Pods! Remote-Controlled Drug Lab in Cambodia Raided
GTC有夜市!黄仁勋啖凉面抄手就爱台湾味
G T C yǒu yè shì ! huáng rén xūn 啖 liáng miàn chāo shǒu jiù ài tái wān wèi
GTC has a night market! Huang Renxun enjoys cold noodles and dumplings—he just loves the taste of Taiwan
在考试的时候，汤姆作弊抄了玛丽的答案。
Zài kǎoshì de shíhou, Tāngmǔ zuòbì chāo le Mǎlì de dá'àn.
During the exam, Tom cheated off Mary.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 抄 (chāo) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 抄 and 妙?
How many strokes does 抄 have?
What is the radical of 抄?
What are the components of 抄?
What are common words containing 抄?
What characters sound the same as 抄 (chāo)?
Is 抄 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 抄 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.