殴 (ōu): to beat up, to hit sb
殴 (ōu) is a Chinese character meaning “to beat up.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 区 (phonetic) and 殳 (semantic). It ranks #2887 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 殴 weapon. Its radical form 殳 (weapon) appears in many related characters such as 段 (duàn, paragraph), 毁 (huǐ, to destroy), 殷 (yīn, dynasty name at the end the Shang dynasty, after its move to Yinxu 殷墟 in present-day Henan).
Definitions
- to beat up
- to hit sb
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 殴 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 殴打 | ōu dǎ | to beat up |
| 斗殴 | dòu ōu | to brawl |
| 互殴 | hù ōu | to fight each other |
| 殴斗 | ōu dòu | to have a fist fight |
| 殴打罪 | ōu dǎ zuì | assault and battery (law) |
| 围殴 | wéi ōu | to gang up and beat |
| 痛殴 | tòng ōu | to beat sb up |
殴 appears in 7 compound words: 43 as the first character, 57 as the last, and 0 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 殴 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
殴字由8笔画组成，结构很巧妙。
ōu zì yóu bǐ huà zǔ chéng , jié gòu hěn qiǎo miào .
The character "殴" consists of eight strokes and has a very ingenious structure.
某国中再传霸凌 国一女遭同学痛殴15分钟
mǒu guó zhōng zài chuán bà líng guó yī nǚ zāo tóng xué tòng ōu 1 5 fēn zhōng
Another bullying incident reported at a middle school: A seventh-grade girl was severely beaten by a classmate for 15 minutes
高雄凤山深夜暴力冲突!计程车司机与乘客互殴 伤害罪送办
gāo xióng fèng shān shēn yè bào lì chōng tū ! jì chéng chē sī jī yǔ chéng kè hù ōu shāng hài zuì sòng bàn
Violent clash in Fengshan, Kaohsiung, late at night! Taxi driver and passenger exchange blows; both charged with assault
猥亵殴打未成年少女?川普黑料 50多页淫魔文件...
猥 亵 ōu dǎ wèi chéng nián shǎo nǚ ? chuān pǔ hēi liào 5 0 duō xié 淫 mó wén jiàn . . .
Molestation and beating of underage girls? Trump's black material more than 50 pages of obscene documents...
约陪酒变调!男性侵不成殴女服务生致坠楼 上诉遭驳回
yuē péi jiǔ biàn diào ! nán xìng qīn bù chéng ōu nǚ fú wù shēng zhì zhuì lóu shàng sù zāo bó huí
Agree to accompany the wine to change the tone! The man assaulted the female waiter and caused her to fall from the building, and the appeal was dismissed
调查:近8成外佣被剥削 苦主被殴兼扣薪 泣诉待遇“畜生不如”
diào chá : jìn 8 chéng wài yòng bèi bāo xiāo kǔ zhǔ bèi ōu jiān kòu xīn qì sù dài yù chù shēng bù rú
Survey: Nearly 80% of foreign domestic helpers are exploited, sufferers are beaten and deducted wages, crying that the treatment is "worse than beasts"
警察驱散了这场斗殴。
Jǐngchá qūsàn le zhè chǎng dòu'ōu.
The police broke up the fight.
囚犯们像疯子一样互相殴斗。
Qiúfàn men xiàng fēngzi yīyàng hùxiāng ōudòu.
The prisoners fought one another like so many mad people.
他被殴打得快死。
Tā bèi ōudǎ de kuài sǐ.
He was beaten to within an inch of his life.
有时候冰球运动员相互挑衅得太厉害以至于会引发斗殴。
Yǒushíhou bīngqiú yùndòngyuán xiānghù tiǎoxìn de tài lìhai yǐzhìyú huì yǐnfā dòu'ōu.
Sometimes hockey players get so competitive that fights break out.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 殴 (ōu) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 殴 and 下?
How many strokes does 殴 have?
What is the radical of 殴?
What are the components of 殴?
What are common words containing 殴?
What characters sound the same as 殴 (ōu)?
Is 殴 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 殴 with real-time feedback
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