泡 (pào): bubble, foam, blister, to soak, to steep, to infuse, to dawdle, to loiter, classifier for occurrences of an action, puffed, swollen, spongy
泡 (pào) is a Chinese character meaning “bubble.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 包 (phonetic). It ranks #1972 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 泡 water. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).
Definitions
- bubble
- foam
- blister
- to soak
- to steep
- to infuse
- to dawdle
- to loiter
- classifier for occurrences of an action
- puffed
- swollen
- spongy
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 泡 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 泡泡noun | pào pao | bubbles |
| 泡菜noun | pào cài | pickled cabbage |
| 灯泡noun | dēng pào | light bulb |
| 泡沫noun | pào mò | foam |
| 泡汤verb | pào tāng | (coll.) to fizzle out |
| 气泡noun | qì pào | bubble |
| 泡泡糖noun | pào pào táng | bubble gum |
| 电灯泡noun | diàn dēng pào | light bulb |
| 水泡noun | shuǐ pào | bubble |
| 浸泡verb | jìn pào | to steep |
| 泡影noun | pào yǐng | (lit.) froth and shadows |
| 泡沫塑料noun | pào mò sù liào | styrofoam |
| 泡茶verb | pào chá | to make tea |
| 起泡verb | qǐ pào | to bubble |
| 肥皂泡noun | féi zào pào | soap bubble |
泡 appears in 88 compound words: 49 as the first character, 33 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 泡 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (5)
Example Sentences
我喜欢在周末泡一杯茶，静静地看书。
Wǒ xǐhuan zài zhōumò pào yī bēi chá, jìngjìng de kàn shū.
I like to brew a cup of tea on weekends and read quietly.
地缘政治风险、AI泡沫疑虑伤不了 台积电市值首破2兆美元
dì yuán zhèng zhì fēng xiǎn , A I pāo mò yí lǜ shāng bù le tái jī diàn shì zhí shǒu pò 2 zhào měi yuán
Geopolitical risks and AI bubble doubts can't hurt TSMC's market value exceeded $2 trillion for the first time
在好市多竟买到“空心泡芙” 一票会员认证:分店品质不一
zài hǎo shì duō jìng mǎi dào kōng xīn pāo 芙 yī piào huì yuán rèn zhèng : fēn diàn pǐn zhì bù yī
I actually bought a "hollow puff" at Costco, a ticket for membership certification: the quality of the branch is different
枸杞泡水、做养生操:这些美国人正努力活得像中国...
枸 杞 pāo shuǐ , zuò yǎng shēng cāo : zhè xiē měi guó rén zhèng nǔ lì huó dé xiàng zhōng guó . . .
Goji berries soaked in water and done health exercises: These Americans are trying to live like China...
...艳全球,《经济学人》为何说是“昂贵的科技泡沫”?
. . . yàn quán qiú , jīng jì xué rén wéi hé shuō shì áng guì de kē jì pāo mò ?
... Why does The Economist say it is an "expensive tech bubble"?
浙江男子铁锅里泡澡,底下还烧着火,一个接一个!杭州..
zhè jiāng nán zǐ tiě guō lǐ pāo zǎo , de xià hái shāo zhe huǒ , yī gě jiē yī gě ! háng zhōu . .
Zhejiang man in the iron pot bath, underneath the fire, one after another! Hangzhou ...
由于下雨，野餐泡汤了。
Yóuyú xiàyǔ, yěcān pàotāng le.
The picnic was canceled because of rain.
汤姆在厨房里泡茶。
Tāngmǔ zài chúfáng lǐ pàochá.
Tom is in the kitchen making tea.
比起冲澡，她更喜欢泡澡。
Bǐqǐ chōngzǎo, tā gèng xǐhuan pàozǎo.
She prefers baths rather than showers.
你要喝什么茶？泡壶柠檬红茶好吧？
Nǐ yào hē shénme chá? pāo hú níngméng hóngchá hǎo ba?
What tea do you drink? Is lemon tea okay?
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 氵 (water) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 泡 (pào) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 泡 and 胞?
How many strokes does 泡 have?
What is the radical of 泡?
What are the components of 泡?
What are common words containing 泡?
What characters sound the same as 泡 (pào)?
Is 泡 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 泡 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.