捣 (dǎo): to pound, to beat, to hull
捣 (dǎo) is a Chinese character meaning “to pound.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (semantic) and 岛 (phonetic). It ranks #2583 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 捣 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 pound
- to beat
- to hull
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 捣 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 捣乱 | dǎo luàn | to disturb |
| 捣蛋 | dǎo dàn | to cause trouble |
| 捣毁 | dǎo huǐ | to destroy |
| 捣鬼 | dǎo guǐ | to play tricks |
| 捣鼓 | dǎo gu | to fiddle with sth |
| 捣碎 | dǎo suì | to pound into pieces |
| 鼓捣 | gǔ dao | to tinker with |
| 直捣黄龙 | zhí dǎo huáng lóng | lit. to directly attack Huanglong |
| 调皮捣蛋 | tiáo pí dǎo dàn | naughty |
| 捣实 | dǎo shí | to ram (earth) |
| 直捣 | zhí dǎo | to advance directly toward (an enemy stronghold etc) |
| 捣蛋鬼 | dǎo dàn guǐ | troublemaker |
| 捣衣 | dǎo yī | to launder clothes by pounding |
| 磕头如捣蒜 | kè tóu rú dǎo suàn | lit. to kowtow like grinding garlic (idiom) |
| 捣弄 | dǎo nòng | to move back and forward |
捣 appears in 18 compound words: 72 as the first character, 11 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 捣 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
他捣了一个电话，约朋友晚上一起吃饭。
tā dǎo le yī gě diàn huà , yāo péng yǒu wǎn shǎng yī qǐ chī fàn .
He made a phone call to arrange dinner with a friend that evening.
直捣Vera Rubin备货关键期 三星大罢...
zhí dǎo V e r a R u b i n bèi huò guān jiàn qī sān xīng dà bà . . .
Targeting Vera Rubin During the Critical Stockpiling Period: Samsung's Mass Strike...
中共捣乱无果 西班牙政要齐见证神韵票房爆满
zhōng gòng dǎo luàn wú guǒ xī bān yá zhèng yāo qí jiàn zhèng shén yùn piào fáng bào mǎn
CCP Disruption Efforts Fail; Spanish Officials Witness Shen Yun's Sold-Out Shows
...美式|浙咖啡店日销百杯爆红 “重口味”客捣碎加料
. . . měi shì zhè kā fēi diàn rì xiāo bǎi bēi bào hóng chóng kǒu wèi kè dǎo suì jiā liào
...American-style | Zhejiang coffee shop goes viral with 100 cups sold daily; "bold-taste" customers crush and add toppings
警将军澳捣破“老人赌档” 4男被捕年纪最大79岁 ...
jǐng jiāng jūn ào dǎo pò lǎo rén dǔ dàng 4 nán bèi bǔ nián jì zuì dà 7 9 suì . . .
Police smashed the "gambling stall for the elderly" in Tseung Kwan O, 4 men were arrested, the oldest was 79 years old...
警上水捣非法麻雀赌档拘11人 检电动麻雀枱、赌具...
jǐng shàng shuǐ dǎo fēi fǎ má qiāo dǔ dàng jū 1 1 rén jiǎn diàn dòng má qiāo 枱 , dǔ jù . . .
Police smashed illegal mahjong gambling stalls in Sheung Shui and arrested 11 people to inspect electric mahjong tables and gambling tools...
汤姆有点调皮捣蛋。
Tāngmǔ yǒudiǎn tiáopídǎodàn.
Tom is somewhat mischievous.
汤姆捣碎了大蒜。
Tāngmǔ dǎosuì le dàsuàn.
Tom crushed the garlic.
你别来捣蛋行吧！
Nǐ bié lái dǎodàn xíng ba!
Don't come and mess around!
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 捣 (dǎo) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 捣 have?
What is the radical of 捣?
What are the components of 捣?
What are common words containing 捣?
What characters sound the same as 捣 (dǎo)?
Is 捣 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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