逃 (táo): to escape, to run away, to flee
逃 (táo) is a Chinese character meaning “to escape.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 辶 (semantic) and 兆 (phonetic). It ranks #995 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 逃 walk. Its radical form 辶 (walk) appears in many related characters such as 边 (biān, side), 过 (guò, to pass, past), 还 (hái, still, return).
Definitions
- to escape
- to run away
- to flee
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 逃 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 逃
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 逃走verb | táo zǒu | to escape |
| 逃避verb | táo bì | to escape |
| 逃脱verb | táo tuō | to run away |
| 逃离verb | táo lí | to run out |
| 逃犯noun | táo fàn | escaped criminal |
| 逃亡verb | táo wáng | to flee |
| 逃逸verb | táo yì | to escape |
| 逃命verb | táo mìng | to escape |
| 逃生verb | táo shēng | to flee for one's life |
| 在逃verb | zài táo | to be at large (of a criminal) |
| 潜逃verb | qián táo | to abscond |
| 逃兵noun | táo bīng | army deserter |
| 逃亡者noun | táo wáng zhě | runaway |
| 逃课verb | táo kè | to skip class |
| 逃学verb | táo xué | to play truant |
逃 appears in 68 compound words: 59 as the first character, 32 as the last, and 9 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 逃 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (10)
mortal danger, escape alive (idiom); a narrow escape; to survive by the skin of one's teeth
mortal danger, escape alive (idiom); a narrow escape; to survive by the skin of one's teeth
Example Sentences
罪犯试图逃跑，但被警察及时抓获。
Zuifàn shìtú táopǎo, dàn bèi jǐngchá jíshí zhuāhuò.
The criminal tried to escape but was promptly captured by the police.
青壯陣亡、人口外逃 烏克蘭淪「孤兒寡母之國」
qīng 壯 陣 wáng rén kǒu wài táo 烏 kè 蘭 淪 gū 兒 guǎ mǔ zhī 國
Young and able-bodied men killed, population fleeing: Ukraine becomes a "country of orphans and widows."
1.2萬被帶出場!她險遭性侵逃跑墜樓重傷 男子下場曝
. 萬 bèi 帶 chū 場 ! tā 險 zāo xìng qīn táo pǎo 墜 樓 chóng 傷 nán zǐ xià 場 pù
12,000 yuan seized! Woman narrowly escapes sexual assault, falls from building and suffers serious injuries. Man's fate revealed.
...董座開工中彈 槍手變裝+交替換車製造斷點逃逸
. . . dǒng zuò 開 gōng zhōng 彈 槍 shǒu 變 裝 jiāo tì 換 車 製 zào 斷 點 táo yì
Chairman Shot During Work Gunman Disguised + Alternated Vehicles to Create Cover for Escape
北市醫美槍擊案槍手變裝、逃逸路線曝光
běi shì 醫 měi 槍 擊 àn 槍 shǒu 變 裝 táo yì lù 線 pù guāng
Shooter in Taipei Medical Aesthetics Shooting Disguised and Escape Route Exposed
...!負責人、2員工中彈 槍手事前勘場再變裝逃逸
. . . ! 負 責 rén 員 gōng zhōng 彈 槍 shǒu shì qián kān 場 zài 變 裝 táo yì
...! Manager and two employees shot; gunman scouted location beforehand then escaped in disguise
你知道为什么他今天逃课了吗？
Nǐ zhīdào wèishénme tā jīntiān táokè le ma?
Do you know why he skipped class today?
十名囚犯逃狱了。
Shí míng qiúfàn táoyù le.
Ten prisoners broke out of jail.
你为什么总是逃避这个话题？
Nǐ wèishénme zǒngshì táobì zhège huàtí?
Why do you always avoid that topic?
他寻找一切可能的逃生途径。
Tā xúnzhǎo yīqiè kěnéng de táoshēng tújìng.
He looked for every possible means of escape.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 辶 (walk) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 逃 (táo) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 逃 and 跳?
How many strokes does 逃 have?
What is the radical of 逃?
What are the components of 逃?
What are common words containing 逃?
What characters sound the same as 逃 (táo)?
Is 逃 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 逃 with real-time feedback
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