洞 (dòng): cave, hole
洞 (dòng) is a Chinese character meaning “cave, hole.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 同 (phonetic). It ranks #1014 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 洞 water. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).
Definitions
- cave, hole
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 洞 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 洞
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 洞穴 | dòng xué | cave |
| 黑洞 | hēi dòng | (astronomy) black hole |
| 山洞 | shān dòng | cavern |
| 空洞 | kōng dòng | cavity |
| 洞察力 | dòng chá lì | insight |
| 防空洞 | fáng kōng dòng | air raid shelter |
| 洞口 | dòng kǒu | cave mouth |
| 洞悉 | dòng xī | to clearly understand |
| 洞察 | dòng chá | to see clearly |
| 地洞 | dì dòng | tunnel |
| 漏洞百出 | lòu dòng bǎi chū | (of an argument, theory etc) full of flaws (idiom) |
| 无底洞 | wú dǐ dòng | bottomless pit |
| 引蛇出洞 | yǐn shé chū dòng | lit. to pull a snake from its hole |
| 洞窟 | dòng kū | a cave |
| 坑洞 | kēng dòng | hole |
洞 appears in 87 compound words: 28 as the first character, 59 as the last, and 14 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 洞 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (6)
being of or showing another level of scenery; (of a place) to be amazingly beautiful and unique
being of or showing another level of scenery; (of a place) to be amazingly beautiful and unique
Example Sentences
工人们发现下水管道上有一个洞，需要立即修补。
Gōngrénmen fāxiàn xiàshuǐ guǎndào shang yǒu yí gè dòng, xūyào lìjí xiūbǔ.
The workers found a hole in the sewer pipe that needs immediate repair.
...2026将揭晓有关人工智能威胁与供应链漏洞的突破性研究成果
. . . 2 0 2 6 jiāng jiē xiǎo yǒu guān rén gōng zhì néng wēi xié yǔ gōng yīng liàn lòu dòng de tū pò xìng yán jiū chéng guǒ
... 2026 will unveil groundbreaking research on AI threats and supply chain vulnerabilities
...将发表开创性研究,聚焦AI威胁与供应链漏洞
. . . jiāng fā biǎo kāi chuàng xìng yán jiū , jù jiāo A I wēi xié yǔ gōng yīng liàn lòu dòng
... Groundbreaking research will be published focusing on AI threats and supply chain vulnerabilities
(新春走基层)山西洪洞大槐树:家庭亲子游成主流 根祖文化激活年...
xīn chūn zǒu jī céng shān xī hóng dòng dà huái shù jiā tíng qīn zǐ yóu chéng zhǔ liú gēn zǔ wén huà jī huó nián . . .
(New Year at the grassroots level) Hongdong big locust tree in Shanxi: Family parent-child travel has become the mainstream, and the root ancestor culture has been activated...
觀察站/一紙特赦 補不了長照漏洞
觀 chá zhàn yī 紙 tè 赦 補 bù le 長 zhào lòu dòng
Observation Post/A Pardon Can't Plug Long-Term Care Gaps
小洞及时补，免遭大洞苦。
Xiǎo dòng jíshí bǔ, miǎnzāo dà dòng kǔ.
A stitch in time saves nine.
汤姆害怕待在洞穴里。
Tāngmǔ hàipà dài zài dòngxué lǐ.
Tom was afraid to stay in the cave.
这地方有多少洞穴？
Zhè dìfang yǒu duōshao dòngxué?
How many caves are there in this area?
小心！在那里有一个大洞。
Xiǎoxīn! Zài nàli yǒu yī gè dà dòng.
Watch out! There's a big hole there.
“洞里发生了什么？我很好奇。”“我一点也不知道。”
"Dòng lǐ fāshēng le shénme? Wǒ hěn hàoqí." "Wǒ yīdiǎn yě bù zhīdào."
"What's going on in the cave? I'm curious." "I have no idea."
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 洞 (dòng)?
Is 洞 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 洞 with real-time feedback
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