掉 (diào): to fall, to drop
掉 (diào) is a Chinese character meaning “to fall, to drop.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (semantic) and 卓 (phonetic). It ranks #849 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 掉 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 fall, to drop
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 掉 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 干掉verb | gàn diào | to get rid of |
| 关掉verb | guān diào | to switch off |
| 忘掉verb | wàng diào | to forget |
| 扔掉verb | rēng diào | to throw away |
| 丢掉verb | diū diào | to lose |
| 除掉verb | chú diào | to eliminate |
| 甩掉verb | shuǎi diào | to throw off |
| 去掉verb | qù diào | to get rid of |
| 掉头verb | diào tóu | to turn one's head |
| 炸掉verb | zhà diào | to bomb |
| 漏掉verb | lòu diào | to miss |
| 毁掉verb | huǐ diào | to destroy |
| 拔掉 | bá diào | to pluck |
| 擦掉verb | cā diào | to wipe |
| 老掉牙adjective | lǎo diào yá | very old |
掉 appears in 89 compound words: 30 as the first character, 61 as the last, and 9 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 掉 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
to lower one's guard; to relax one's vigilance; to treat something lightly
Example Sentences
我的手机掉在地上，屏幕摔碎了，需要修理。
Wǒ de shǒujī diào zài dìshang, píngmù shuāi suì le, xūyào xiūlǐ.
My phone fell on the ground, the screen shattered, and it needs repair.
腺肌症吃什么药能消掉?孕激素类药物真能让病灶萎缩吗
xiàn jī zhèng chī shén má yào néng xiāo diào ? yùn jī sù lèi yào wù zhēn néng ràng bìng zào wěi suō ma
What medicine can be taken to eliminate adenomyosis? Can progestin drugs really shrink lesions?
宁夏夜市地上掉红包 民众示警:恐是冥婚
nìng xià yè shì dì shàng diào hóng bāo mín zhòng shì jǐng : kǒng shì 冥 hūn
Red envelopes fell on the ground in the Ningxia night market, and the people warned: It may be a ghost marriage
65岁日本网红开启退休后“第二人生” 戒掉6种坏习惯生活更快乐
6 5 suì rì běn wǎng hóng kāi qǐ tuì xiū hòu dì èr rén shēng jiè diào 6 zhǒng huài xí guàn shēng huó gēng kuài lè
65-year-old Japanese Internet celebrity started a "second life" after retirement Quit 6 bad habits and live a happier life
桃園某知名遭離職員工指控 水果發霉竟擦掉後重新上架賣
táo 園 mǒu zhī míng zāo 離 職 員 gōng zhǐ kòng shuǐ guǒ 發 méi jìng cā diào 後 chóng xīn shàng jià 賣
A well-known person in Taoyuan was accused by a resigned employee of wiping off the moldy fruit and putting it back on the shelves for sale
...關貼「馬上有錢」春聯很奇怪 今天有單位換掉了
. . . 關 貼 馬 shàng yǒu 錢 chūn 聯 hěn qí guài jīn tiān yǒu 單 wèi 換 diào le
It's strange to see "Money will come immediately" Spring Festival couplets posted today. Some places have already replaced them.
你帮我把这两封信寄掉好吗？
Nǐ bāng wǒ bǎ zhè liǎng fēng xìn jì diào hǎo ma?
Help me send out these two letters, all right?
请快点把碎了的那个换掉好吗？
Qǐng kuàidiǎn bǎ suì le de nàge huàn diào hǎo ma?
Would you please replace the broken one promptly?
你最后一次关掉引擎是什么时候？
Nǐ zuì hòu yīcì guāndiào yǐnqíng shì shénmeshíhou?
When was the last time you cut the engine?
您毁掉了我的宝马！
Nín huǐdiào le wǒ de bǎomǎ!
You ruined my BMW!
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 掉 (diào) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 掉 and 起?
How many strokes does 掉 have?
What is the radical of 掉?
What are the components of 掉?
What are common words containing 掉?
What characters sound the same as 掉 (diào)?
Is 掉 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 掉 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.