鼓 (gǔ): drum, CL:通,面, to drum
鼓 (gǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “drum.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 壴 (semantic) and 支 (phonetic). It ranks #1121 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 鼓 drum. Its radical form 鼓 (drum) appears in many related characters.
Definitions
- drum
- CL:通,面
- to drum
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 鼓 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 鼓
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 蒙在鼓里 | méng zài gǔ lǐ | variant of 蒙在鼓裡|蒙在鼓里[meng2 zai4 gu3 li3] |
| 鼓手 | gǔ shǒu | drummer |
| 鼓动 | gǔ dòng | to urge (an activity that may be beneficial, harmful or neutral) |
| 打鼓 | dǎ gǔ | to beat a drum |
| 鼓声 | gǔ shēng | sound of a drum |
| 鼓吹 | gǔ chuī | to agitate for |
| 欢欣鼓舞 | huān xīn gǔ wǔ | (idiom) elated and excited |
| 打退堂鼓 | dǎ tuì táng gǔ | lit. to beat the return drum (idiom) |
| 鼓鼓的 | gǔ gǔ de | bulging |
| 捣鼓 | dǎo gu | to fiddle with sth |
| 鼓点 | gǔ diǎn | drum beat |
| 大张旗鼓 | dà zhāng qí gǔ | (idiom) with great fanfare |
| 旗鼓相当 | qí gǔ xiāng dāng | lit. two armies have equivalent banners and drums (idiom) |
| 鼓捣 | gǔ dao | to tinker with |
| 鼓风机 | gǔ fēng jī | bellows |
鼓 appears in 100 compound words: 38 as the first character, 38 as the last, and 24 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 鼓 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (17)
to beat the drum before the magistrate withdraws from the court; to beat a retreat; to give up halfway
to beat the drum before the magistrate withdraws from the court; to beat a retreat; to give up halfway
Showing 12 of 17 idioms containing 鼓.
Example Sentences
老师教我们鼓字的发音和笔顺。
lǎo shī jiào wǒ men gǔ zì de fā yīn hé bǐ shùn .
The teacher taught us the pronunciation and stroke order of the character "鼓."
压力山大却有近半人放心里 南投卫生局鼓励隐形压力族勇于求助
yā lì shān dà què yǒu jìn bàn rén fàng xīn lǐ nán tóu wèi shēng jú gǔ lì yǐn xíng yā lì zú yǒng yú qiú zhù
The pressure is great, but nearly half of the people are at ease Nantou Health Bureau encourages invisible stressors to have the courage to ask for help
火鹤花田改种洋香瓜 父亲鼓励8年级生姊妹“不务正业”
huǒ hè huā tián gǎi zhǒng yáng xiāng guā fù qīn gǔ lì 8 nián jí shēng 姊 mèi bù wù zhèng yè
Fire Crane Flower Field Changed to Cantaloupe Father Encouraged 8th Grade Sisters to "Not Do Their Job"
LUNA SEA官方公布鼓手真矢不敌病情离世 享年56岁
L U N A S E A guān fāng gōng bù gǔ shǒu zhēn shǐ bù dí bìng qíng lí shì xiǎng nián 5 6 suì
LUNA SEA officially announced that drummer Maya passed away at the age of 56
神韵展现对神的信仰 令牙医“深受鼓舞”
shén yùn zhǎn xiàn duì shén de xìn yǎng lìng yá yī shēn shòu gǔ wǔ
Shen Yun shows faith in God and makes dentists "deeply encouraged"
我？鼓励你去工作？不可能！
Wǒ? gǔlì nǐ qù gōngzuò? bù kěnéng!
Me? Encourage you to work? Blasphemy!
汤姆鼓励玛丽再去尝试一次。
Tāngmǔ gǔlì Mǎlì zài qù chángshì yīcì.
Tom encouraged Mary to try again.
今天我终于鼓起勇气对她说：“我爱你！”。
Jīntiān wǒ zhōngyú gǔqǐyǒngqì duì tā shuō:"wǒ ài nǐ!".
Today I finally worked up the bravery to say to her "I love you!"
我们为表演者鼓掌。
Wǒmen wèi biǎoyǎnzhě gǔzhǎng.
We gave the performer a round of applause.
我伤心的时候，我的朋友会鼓励我。
Wǒ shāngxīn de shíhou, wǒ de péngyou huì gǔlì wǒ.
When I'm sad, my friends encourage me.
Character Family
鼓 Radical Family — Characters sharing the drum radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 鼓 (gǔ) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 鼓 and 枝?
How many strokes does 鼓 have?
What is the radical of 鼓?
What are the components of 鼓?
What are common words containing 鼓?
What characters sound the same as 鼓 (gǔ)?
Is 鼓 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 鼓 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.