掘 (jué): to dig
掘 (jué) is a Chinese character meaning “to dig.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (semantic) and 屈 (phonetic). It ranks #2161 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 掘 hand. Its radical form 扌 (hand) appears in many related characters such as 手 (shǒu, hand), 打 (dǎ, hit, make), 找 (zhǎo, to look for).
Definitions
- to dig
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
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Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 挖掘verb | wā jué | to excavate |
| 发掘verb | fā jué | to excavate |
| 自掘坟墓phrase | zì jué fén mù | to dig one's own grave |
| 挖掘机noun | wā jué jī | excavator |
| 采掘verb | cǎi jué | to excavate |
| 吃水不忘掘井人 | chī shuǐ bù wàng jué jǐng rén | Drinking the water of a well, one should never forget who dug it. (idiom) |
| 掘土机noun | jué tǔ jī | excavator |
| 掘墓工人 | jué mù gōng rén | grave digger |
| 掘出 | jué chū | to exhume |
| 开掘verb | kāi jué | to dig |
| 数据挖掘noun | shù jù wā jué | data mining |
| 罗掘 | luó jué | to scrape together money (abbr. for 羅雀掘鼠|罗雀掘鼠) |
| 掘客 | jué kè | Digg (social news website) |
| 挖掘机械 | wā jué jī xiè | excavator |
| 临渴掘井phrase | lín kě jué jǐng | lit. not to dig a well until one is thirsty |
掘 appears in 17 compound words: 29 as the first character, 35 as the last, and 35 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 掘 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
Showing 2 of 4 idioms containing 掘.
Example Sentences
挖掘潜力，实现自我。
Wājué qiánlì, shíxiàn zìwǒ.
Dig out potential and realize oneself.
金门古迹惊传遭盗掘!积水退去揪出元凶
jīn mén gǔ jì jīng chuán zāo dào jué ! jī shuǐ tuì qù jiū chū yuán xiōng
Shocking News: Ancient Site in Kinmen Reportedly Looted! As the Water Receded, the Culprit Was Uncovered
...b M2 因子信号管线实操指南:从因子挖掘到信号预测
. . . b M 2 yīn zǐ xìn hào guǎn xiàn shí cāo zhǐ nán : cóng yīn zǐ wā jué dào xìn hào yù cè
...b Practical Guide to M2 Factor Signaling Pathways: From Factor Discovery to Signal Prediction
“中国城市高铁第一隧”独头掘进突破1万米
zhōng guó chéng shì gāo tiě dì yī suì dú tóu jué jìn tū pò 1 wàn mǐ
"China's First High-Speed Rail Tunnel in an Urban Area" Reaches 10,000 Meters in Single-Head Tunneling
(走进中国乡村)低空飞行器山城花海“掘金”
( zǒu jìn zhōng guó xiāng cūn ) dī kōng fēi háng qì shān chéng huā hǎi jué jīn
(A Glimpse into Rural China) Low-Altitude Drones Strike Gold in the Mountain City’s Sea of Flowers
...财神爷骑马游街拜年万人空巷 黄瑞林建议挖掘巴生旅游特色
. . . cái shén yé qí mǎ yóu jiē bài nián wàn rén kōng xiàng huáng ruì lín jiàn yì wā jué bā shēng lǚ yóu tè sè
... The God of Wealth rode horses to the streets to pay New Year's greetings, and Huang Ruilin suggested exploring the tourism characteristics of Klang
我们在地上掘了一个洞。
Wǒmen zài dìshàng jué le yī gè dòng.
We dug a hole in the ground.
无事掘小，小事掘大。
Wú shì jué xiǎo, xiǎoshì jué dà.
Make the best of your opportunities.
汤姆是位考古学家，在领导罗马附近的发掘项目。
Tāngmǔ shì wèi kǎogǔxuéjiā, zài lǐngdǎo Luómǎ fùjìn de fājué xiàngmù.
Tom is an archaeologist leading the excavations near Rome.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 掘 (jué) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 掘 and 窟?
How many strokes does 掘 have?
What is the radical of 掘?
What are the components of 掘?
What are common words containing 掘?
What characters sound the same as 掘 (jué)?
Is 掘 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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