窦 (dòu): surname Dou, (literary) hole, aperture

窦 (dòu) is a Chinese character meaning “(literary) hole.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 穴 (structural) and 卖 (structural). It ranks #3511 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 窦 to buy someone off 卖; a nose-hole 穴. Its radical form 穴 (cave) appears in many related characters such as 空 (kōng, empty, sky), 穿 (chuān, to wear, 穿透), 窗 (chuāng, window).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. surname Dou
  2. (literary) hole
  3. aperture

Etymology & Origin

窦

ideographicTo buy someone off 卖; a nose-hole 穴

Decomposition: ⿱穴卖 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

Practice writing 窦 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
鼻窦炎nounbí dòu yánsinusitis
鼻窦nounbí dòuparanasal sinus
窦性心律dòu xìng xīn lǜ(medicine) sinus rhythm
情窦初开qíng dòu chū kāifirst awakening of love (usually of a girl) (idiom)
狗窦大开gǒu dòu dà kāidog hole wide open (idiom)
窦房结dòu fáng jié(anatomy) sinoatrial node
玛窦福音proper-nounmǎ dòu fú yīnGospel according to St Matthew
利玛窦lì mǎ dòuMatteo Ricci (1552-1610), Jesuit missionary and translator in Ming China
窦道dòu dàosinus (anatomy)
闭门塞窦bì mén sè dòuto close doors and block openings (idiom)
情窦qíng dòu(lit.) love aperture
疑窦nounyí dòu(literary) doubts
鼻旁窦nounbí páng dòuparanasal sinus
乳突窦rǔ tū dòu(anatomy) mastoid antrum
玛窦proper-nounmǎ dòuMatthew
23
Total compounds
22
As first character
57
As last character
22
As middle character

窦 appears in 23 compound words: 22 as the first character, 57 as the last, and 22 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 窦 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

老lǎo
0.40611 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (6)

闭门塞窦bì mén sè dòu

to close doors and block openings (idiom); mounting a strict defense

phrase
狗窦大开gǒu dòu dà kāi

dog hole wide open (idiom); fig. gap caused by missing teeth (used mockingly)

phrase
玛窦福音Mǎdòu Fúyīn

Gospel of Matthew

情窦初开qíng dòu chū kāi

first awakening of love (usually of a girl) (idiom)

phrase
荜门圭窦bì mén guī dòu

wicker door, hole window (idiom); fig. wretched hovel; living in poverty

phrase
筚门闺窦bìménguīdòu

wretched hovel; living in poverty; poverty-stricken

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

窦字虽然难写,但意思很有趣。

Dòu zì suī rán nán xiě , dàn yì sī hěn yǒu qù .

Although the character "Dòu" is difficult to write, its meaning is quite interesting.

中国新闻网·体育Aug 2026

女子组方面,湖南队窦静在缓上坡中发起长距离冲刺,拿下冠军。

nǚ zǐ zǔ fāng miàn , hú nán duì Dòu jìng zài huǎn shàng pō zhōng fā qǐ cháng jù lí chōng cì , ná xià guàn jūn .

In the women's division, Dou Jing of the Hunan team launched a long-distance sprint on a gentle uphill stretch and claimed the championship.

少数派Aug 2026

鼻腔和鼻窦还会产生少量一氧化氮,并随吸气进入呼吸道,可能参与局部气道和肺血流的调节。

bí qiāng hé bí Dòu hái huì chǎn shēng shǎo liàng yī yǎng huà 氮 , bìng suí xī qì jìn rù hū xī dào , kě néng cān yǔ jú bù qì dào hé fèi xiě liú de diào jié .

The nasal cavity and sinuses also produce small amounts of nitric oxide, which enters the respiratory tract during inhalation and may play a role in regulating local airway and pulmonary blood flow.

StheadlineApr 2026

...泳汉反击鼎爷为“嗰个女人”洗白 否认靠老窦供养:人工都系公司出

. . . yǒng hàn fǎn jī dǐng yé wéi 嗰 gè nǚ rén xǐ bái fǒu rèn kào lǎo Dòu gōng yǎng : rén gōng dōu xì gōng sī chū

...Yonghan hit back at Ding Ye for whitewashing "that woman," denying that he relies on Lao Dou for financial support: "All my expenses are covered by the company."

StheadlineMar 2026

...曼凭《正义女神》再掀视后热 感性追忆“老窦”许绍雄:还在的一个感觉

. . . màn píng zhèng yì nǚ shén zài xiān shì hòu rè gǎn xìng zhuī yì lǎo Dòu xǔ shào xióng : hái zài de yī gè gǎn jué

...Man reignites the race for Best Actress with *The Goddess of Justice*; she fondly recalls "Old Dou" Hui Shiu-hung: "It still feels the same"

StheadlineMar 2026

...hemis》泪崩:我是抽离不到 忆述“老窦”罕见一面

. . . h e m i s lèi bēng : wǒ shì chōu lí bù dào yì shù lǎo Dòu hǎn jiàn yī miàn

...hemis breaks down in tears: "I just can't let go," recalling a rare moment with "Old Dou"

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 窦 (dòu) mean in Chinese?
窦 (dòu) primarily means "(literary) hole." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #3511 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 窦 have?
窦 is written with 13 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 窦?
The radical associated with 窦 is 穴 (cave). This radical appears in many characters related to cave.
What are the components of 窦?
窦 is composed of: 穴 (structural), 卖 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱穴卖 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 窦?
Common words with 窦 include: 鼻窦炎 (bí dòu yán, "sinusitis"); 鼻窦 (bí dòu, "paranasal sinus"); 窦性心律 (dòu xìng xīn lǜ, "(medicine) sinus rhythm"); 情窦初开 (qíng dòu chū kāi, "first awakening of love (usually of a girl) (idiom)"); 狗窦大开 (gǒu dòu dà kāi, "dog hole wide open (idiom)"). There are over 23 compound words containing this character.
Is 窦 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 窦 and the traditional form is 竇.

Practice writing 窦 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.