勾 (gōu): to attract, to arouse, to tick
勾 (gōu) is a Chinese character meaning “to attract.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 勹 (structural) and 厶 (structural). It ranks #2003 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Definitions
- to attract
- to arouse
- to tick
Stroke Order
Practice writing 勾 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 勾引verb | gōu yǐn | to seduce |
| 勾搭verb | gōu da | to gang up |
| 勾当noun | gòu dàng | shady business |
| 一笔勾销phrase | yī bǐ gōu xiāo | to write off at one stroke |
| 勾结verb | gōu jié | to collude with |
| 勾画verb | gōu huà | to sketch out |
| 勾心斗角phrase | gōu xīn dòu jiǎo | to fight and scheme against each other (idiom) |
| 勾勒verb | gōu lè | to draw the outline of |
| 直勾勾 | zhí gōu gōu | (of one's gaze) fixed |
| 勾股定理noun | gōu gǔ dìng lǐ | Pythagorean theorem |
| 勾销verb | gōu xiāo | to write off |
| 勾肩搭背phrase | gōu jiān dā bèi | (idiom) arms around each other's shoulders |
| 勾兑verb | gōu duì | to blend various types of wine (or spirits, or fruit juices etc) |
| 勾通verb | gōu tōng | to collude with |
| 里勾外连 | lǐ gōu wài lián | to act from inside in coordination with attackers outside |
勾 appears in 45 compound words: 76 as the first character, 7 as the last, and 18 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 勾 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (5)
to throw one's arm around someone's shoulder; (figuratively) to be on intimate terms with one another
to act from inside in coordination with attackers outside; attacked from both inside and out
to throw one's arm around someone's shoulder; (figuratively) to be on intimate terms with one another
to act from inside in coordination with attackers outside; attacked from both inside and out
Example Sentences
老师教我们勾字的发音和笔顺。
lǎo shī jiào wǒ men gōu zì de fā yīn hé bǐ shùn .
The teacher taught us the pronunciation and stroke order of the character "勾."
高雄景点“岗山之眼”售票员勾结验票员 一票两卖牟利被起诉
gāo xióng jǐng diǎn gǎng shān zhī yǎn shòu piào yuán gōu jié yàn piào yuán yī piào liǎng mài 牟 lì bèi qǐ sù
The ticket seller of the Kaohsiung attraction "Eye of Gangshan" colluded with the ticket inspector to sell one ticket and two for profit and was prosecuted
黎智英欺诈罪上诉得直获撤刑 18年“勾外罪”提早服刑 最快92岁出狱
lí zhì yīng qī zhà zuì shàng sù dé zhí huò chè xíng 1 8 nián gōu wài zuì tí zǎo fú xíng zuì kuài 9 2 suì chū yù
Jimmy Lai's fraud appeal was directly withdrawn, and he served his sentence early for the 18-year "hooking offense" and was released from prison at the earliest age of 92
挺过“勾二嫂”风波!ØZI东区约会辣模女友 私下...
tǐng guò gōu èr sǎo fēng bō ! Z I dōng qū yuē huì là mó nǚ yǒu sī xià . . .
Survived the "hook second sister-in-law" turmoil! ØZI East District Dating Hot Model Girlfriend Private...
...lly 重现36年“GameBoy”卡声勾起玩家回忆
. . . l l y chóng xiàn 3 6 nián G a m e B o y kǎ shēng gōu qǐ wán jiā huí yì
... lly recreates the 36-year-old "GameBoy" card sound to evoke players' memories
他用他的迪吉里杜管勾引了她。
Tāyòng tā de díjílǐdùguǎn gōuyǐn le tā.
He seduced her with his didgeridoo.
这些音乐勾起了我儿时的回忆。
Zhèxiē yīnyuè gōuqǐ le wǒ érshí de huíyì.
The music carried me back to my childhood.
那首歌总是勾起我中学时代的回忆。
Nà shǒu gē zǒngshì gōuqǐ wǒ zhōngxué shídài de huíyì.
Every time I hear that song, I think of my high school days.
在网上勾人比在街上容易。
Zài wǎngshàng gōurén bǐ zài jiēshang róngyì.
It is easier to hit on people on the Internet than in the street.
孩子的新毛衣上勾了一个洞。
Háizi de xīn máoyī shàng gōu le yī gè dòng.
The child has picked a hole in his new jumper.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 勾 (gōu) mean in Chinese?
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What characters sound the same as 勾 (gōu)?
Is 勾 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 勾 with real-time feedback
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