竿 (gān): pole
竿 (gān) is a Chinese character meaning “pole.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of ⺮ (semantic) and 干 (phonetic). It ranks #2709 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 竿 bamboo. Its radical form 竹 (bamboo) appears in many related characters such as 笑 (xiào, to laugh), 第 (dì, (prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六 "sixth")), 等 (děng, to wait for).
Definitions
- pole
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 竿 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 鱼竿noun | yú gān | fishing rod |
| 竿子noun | gān zi | bamboo pole |
| 竹竿noun | zhú gān | bamboo pole |
| 钓竿noun | diào gān | fishing rod |
| 钓鱼竿noun | diào yú gān | fishing rod |
| 立竿见影phrase | lì gān jiàn yǐng | (lit.) set up a pole and immediately see its shadow (idiom) |
| 撑竿跳 | chēng gān tiào | pole vault |
| 标竿noun | biāo gān | benchmark |
| 百尺竿头 | bǎi chǐ gān tóu | to be at the highest level of enlightenment (Buddhist expression) |
| 滑竿noun | huá gān | a kind of sedan chair, usu. made of bamboo and mounted on a pair of long bamboo poles |
| 八竿子打不着phrase | bā gān zi dǎ bù zháo | (coll.) unrelated |
| 百尺竿头，更进一步 | bǎi chǐ gān tóu , gèng jìn yī bù | lit. after climbing a hundred feet up a pole, one should go even further (idiom) |
| 撑竿跳高noun | chēng gān tiào gāo | pole vault |
| 竿头noun | gān tóu | bamboo pole's uppermost tip |
| 马竿 | mǎ gān | lasso pole |
竿 appears in 19 compound words: 11 as the first character, 58 as the last, and 32 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 竿 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
钓鱼竿伸向湖面。
Diàoyú gān shēn xiàng húmiàn.
The fishing rod extends toward the lake surface.
但它也并不是一无是处，不要一竿子打死。
dàn tā yě bìng bù shì yī wú shì chǔ , bù yāo yī gān zǐ dǎ sǐ .
But it’s not all bad—don’t write it off entirely.
...有用处!打窝用上它,诱鱼快如闪电,关键下竿就中鱼
. . . yǒu yòng chǔ ! dǎ wō yòng shàng tā , yòu yú kuài rú shǎn diàn , guān jiàn xià gān jiù zhōng yú
...It really works! Use it to set up your fishing spot, and you'll attract fish in a flash—and best of all, you'll hook a fish the moment you cast your line.
...西门子软体优化设计流程 打造制造卓越新标竿
. . . xī mén zǐ ruǎn tǐ yōu huà shè jì liú chéng dǎ zào zhì zào zhuó yuè xīn biāo gān
...Siemens' Optimized Software Design Process Sets a New Benchmark for Manufacturing Excellence
影/日月潭国际撑竿跳高赛...我国吴彦翰摘银破全国纪录 只...
yǐng rì yuè tán guó jì chēng gān tiào gāo sài . . . wǒ guó wú 彦 翰 zhāi yín pò quán guó jì lù zhī . . .
Video: Sun Moon Lake International Pole Vault Competition... Taiwan's Wu Yen-han Wins Silver and Breaks National Record...
阎纪宇专栏:伊朗人民揭竿而起、推翻政权?
yán jì yǔ zhuān lán : yī lǎng rén mín jiē gān ér qǐ , tuī fān zhèng quán ?
Yan Jiyu's Column: Will the Iranian People Rise Up and Overthrow the Regime?
我喜欢这个工作因为它立竿见影，让人很有成就感。
Wǒ xǐhuan zhège gōngzuò yīnwèi tā lìgānjiànyǐng, ràng rén hěn yǒuchéng jiù gǎn.
I like this work because you see the result immediately; it's very rewarding.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the ⺮ (bamboo) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 竿 (gān) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 竿 and 刊?
How many strokes does 竿 have?
What is the radical of 竿?
What are the components of 竿?
What are common words containing 竿?
What characters sound the same as 竿 (gān)?
Is 竿 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 竿 with real-time feedback
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