捞 (lāo): to fish up, to dredge up
捞 (lāo) is a Chinese character meaning “to fish up.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (semantic) and 劳 (phonetic). It ranks #2422 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 捞 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 fish up
- to dredge up
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 捞 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 打捞verb | dǎ lāo | to salvage |
| 大海捞针phrase | dà hǎi lāo zhēn | lit. to fish a needle from the sea |
| 捞钱verb | lāo qián | lit. to dredge for money |
| 捕捞verb | bǔ lāo | to fish for (aquatic animals and plants) |
| 捞一把 | lāo yī bǎ | to profiteer |
| 捞油水 | lāo yóu shuǐ | (coll.) to gain profit (usu. by underhand means) |
| 捞取verb | lāo qǔ | to dredge up |
| 水中捞月phrase | shuǐ zhōng lāo yuè | (lit.) to scoop the moon out of the water (idiom) |
| 海底捞月verb | hǎi dǐ lāo yuè | (mahjong) to complete one's hand on the last draw of the round |
| 捞什子 | lāo shí zi | encumbrance |
| 水果捞 | shuǐ guǒ lāo | fruit medley in coconut milk – a chilled dessert consisting of assorted fresh fruits served in sweetened coconut milk... |
| 捞外快 | lāo wài kuài | to make extra money |
| 海底捞 | hǎi dǐ lāo | Haidilao (aka Hai Di Lao), hot pot restaurant chain founded in Sichuan in 1994 |
| 海底捞针phrase | hǎi dǐ lāo zhēn | see 大海撈針|大海捞针 |
| 救捞局 | jiù lāo jú | sea rescue service |
捞 appears in 20 compound words: 45 as the first character, 25 as the last, and 30 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 捞 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
to make a futile effort; to complete a winning hand by drawing the final tile before reaching the dead wall
to make a futile effort; to complete a winning hand by drawing the final tile before reaching the dead wall
Example Sentences
他捞了一个电话，约朋友晚上一起吃饭。
tā lāo le yī gě diàn huà , yāo péng yǒu wǎn shǎng yī qǐ chī fàn .
He grabbed his phone and called a friend to arrange dinner together that evening.
德总理访陆丰收 替空巴捞到120架大单
dé zǒng lǐ fǎng lù fēng shōu tì kōng bā lāo dào 1 2 0 jià dà dān
The German Chancellor visited Lu to harvest 120 large orders for empty ba
消除“黄牌”警告:广宁省提前完成渔船捕捞许可发放工作
xiāo chú huáng pái jǐng gào : guǎng nìng shěng tí qián wán chéng yú chuán bǔ lāo xǔ kě fā fàng gōng zuò
Eliminate "yellow card" warning: Quang Ninh province has completed the issuance of fishing vessel fishing licenses ahead of schedule
...半 215万易手6年蒸发217万 投资客捞底料每月收租9,000元 代理:银码细!...
. . . bàn 2 1 5 wàn yì shǒu 6 nián zhēng fā 2 1 7 wàn tóu zī kè lāo de liào měi yuè shōu zū 9 , 0 0 0 yuán dài lǐ : yín mǎ xì ! . . .
... Half 2.15 million changed hands in 6 years, evaporated 2.17 million yuan, and investors collected 9,000 yuan per month for the bottom material Agent: silver code fine ...
WBC/重炮加入WBC “捞哥”去年24轰86分夺打点王
W B C chóng pào jiā rù W B C lāo gē qù nián 2 4 hōng 8 6 fēn duó dǎ diǎn wáng
WBC/Heavy Artillery joined the WBC "Lao Ge" last year with 24 hits and 86 points to win the RBI king
...拘罚18亿 扛布者:疑被中国政府“远洋捕捞”
. . . jū fá 1 8 yì gāng bù zhě : yí bèi zhōng guó zhèng fǔ yuǎn yáng bǔ lāo
... Detained 1.8 billion cloth bearers: suspected of being "ocean-going fishing" by the Chinese government
船的残骸从海底被打捞上来。
Chuán de cánhái cóng hǎidǐ bèi dǎlāo shànglái.
The wreckage of the ship was salvaged after it had gone to Davy Jones's locker.
想从贼身上捞点儿什么是很难的
Xiǎng cóng zéi shēnshang lāo diǎnr shénme shì hěn nán de
It's hard to steal from a thief.
这好比大海捞针。
Zhè hǎobǐ dàhǎilāozhēn.
It is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 捞 (lāo) mean in Chinese?
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What characters sound the same as 捞 (lāo)?
Is 捞 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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