炮 (pào): cannon, firecracker
炮 (pào) is a Chinese character meaning “cannon, firecracker.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 火 (semantic) and 包 (phonetic). It ranks #914 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 炮 fire. Its radical form 火 (fire) appears in many related characters such as 火 (huǒ, fire), 灯 (dēng, lamp, light), 烟 (yān, smoke).
Definitions
- cannon, firecracker
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 炮 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 大炮 | dà pào | big gun |
| 炮弹 | pào dàn | artillery shell |
| 迫击炮 | pǎi jī pào | mortar (weapon) |
| 开炮 | kāi pào | to open fire |
| 炮火 | pào huǒ | artillery barrage |
| 枪炮 | qiāng pào | firearm |
| 火炮 | huǒ pào | cannon |
| 炮手 | pào shǒu | gunner |
| 炮兵 | pào bīng | artillery soldier |
| 鞭炮 | biān pào | firecrackers |
| 炮塔 | pào tǎ | gun turret |
| 炮轰 | pào hōng | to bombard |
| 马后炮 | mǎ hòu pào | (Chinese chess) moving the cannon after moving the horse away |
| 高射炮 | gāo shè pào | anti-aircraft gun |
| 炮击 | pào jī | to shell |
炮 appears in 87 compound words: 32 as the first character, 53 as the last, and 15 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 炮 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (8)
to fire after the horse has bolted (idiom); to act too late to be effective
cannon firing for days on end (idiom); enveloped in the flames of war
to fire after the horse has bolted (idiom); to act too late to be effective
cannon firing for days on end (idiom); enveloped in the flames of war
Showing 7 of 8 idioms containing 炮.
Example Sentences
春节期间，很多城市禁止在市区燃放鞭炮。
Chūnjié qījiān, hěn duō chéngshì jìnzhǐ zài shìqū ránfàng biānpào.
During the Spring Festival, many cities prohibit setting off firecrackers in urban areas.
把甩炮当糖果!母亲才转身几秒 广东女童“口中冒...
bǎ shuǎi pào dāng táng guǒ ! mǔ qīn cái zhuǎn shēn jī miǎo guǎng dōng nǚ tóng kǒu zhōng mào . . .
Throw the cannon as candy! The mother only turned around for a few seconds, and the Guangdong girl "came out of her mouth...
台南2高工生想当网红“炮炸青蛙”网骂翻
tái nán 2 gāo gōng shēng xiǎng dāng wǎng hóng pào zhà qīng wā wǎng mà fān
Tainan 2 senior engineering students want to be Internet celebrities "bombarding frogs" Internet scolding
WBC/重炮加入WBC “捞哥”去年24轰86分夺打...
W B C chóng pào jiā rù W B C lāo gē qù nián 2 4 hōng 8 6 fēn duó dǎ . . .
WBC/Heavy Artillery joined the WBC "Lao Ge" last year with 24 hits and 86 points...
大山深处:鞭炮声声 笑声朗朗——火箭军某部春节见闻
dà shān shēn chǔ biān pào shēng shēng xiào shēng lǎng lǎng huǒ jiàn jūn mǒu bù chūn jié jiàn wén
Deep in the mountains: the sound of firecrackers and the sound of laughter -- a department of the Rocket Force in the Spring Festival
金正恩出席火箭炮赠送仪式
jīn zhēng ēn chū xí huǒ jiàn pào zèng sòng yí shì
Kim Jong Un attends rocket launcher presentation ceremony
爱迪生发明了电灯炮。
àidíshēng fāmíng le diàndēng bāo.
Thomas Edison invented the light bulb.
我们一直是很好的炮友。
Wǒmen yīzhí shì hěn hǎo de pàoyǒu.
We were always very good fuck buddies.
最后我成功和那个女孩成为了炮友关系。
Zuì hòu wǒ chénggōng hé nàge nǚhái chéngwéi le pàoyǒu guānxi.
In the end, I did manage to become friends with benefits with that girl.
我不是想要老婆，我想找个炮友而已。
Wǒ bù shì xiǎngyào lǎopó, wǒ xiǎng zhǎo gè pàoyǒu éryǐ.
It's not a wife that I want, but a sex friend.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 炮 (pào) mean in Chinese?
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How many strokes does 炮 have?
What is the radical of 炮?
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What are common words containing 炮?
What characters sound the same as 炮 (pào)?
Is 炮 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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