挑 (tiāo): to carry on a shoulder pole, to choose, to pick
挑 (tiāo) is a Chinese character meaning “to carry on a shoulder pole.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (semantic) and 兆 (phonetic). It ranks #1301 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 挑 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 carry on a shoulder pole
- to choose
- to pick
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 挑 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 挑
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 挑起 | tiǎo qǐ | to provoke |
| 挑剔 | tiāo ti | picky |
| 挑逗 | tiǎo dòu | to provoke |
| 挑衅 | tiǎo xìn | to provoke |
| 挑战者 | tiǎo zhàn zhě | challenger |
| 高挑 | gāo tiǎo | raised high |
| 挑三拣四 | tiāo sān jiǎn sì | to be picky |
| 挑拨 | tiǎo bō | to incite disharmony |
| 挑拨离间 | tiǎo bō lí jiàn | to sow dissension (idiom) |
| 挑食 | tiāo shí | to be picky about food |
| 挑拣 | tiāo jiǎn | to pick and choose |
| 挑大梁 | tiǎo dà liáng | to play a leading role |
| 百里挑一 | bǎi lǐ tiāo yī | one in a hundred |
| 挑动 | tiǎo dòng | to entice |
| 撂挑子 | liào tiāo zi | (coll.) to quit one's job in disgust |
挑 appears in 59 compound words: 71 as the first character, 5 as the last, and 24 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 挑 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (11)
the eye incites, the heart invites (idiom); flirtatious; making eyes at sb
to incite one person against another; to drive a wedge between; to foment disunity and dissension; to sow discord
to incite a quarrel (idiom); to sow discord between people; to tell tales; to make mischief
to pick the best for oneself; to choose whatever is to one's advantage
the eye incites, the heart invites (idiom); flirtatious; making eyes at sb
to incite one person against another; to drive a wedge between; to foment disunity and dissension; to sow discord
to incite a quarrel (idiom); to sow discord between people; to tell tales; to make mischief
Example Sentences
妈妈挑着孩子的手，慢慢地过马路。
mā mā tiāo zhe hái zǐ de shǒu , màn màn dì guò mǎ lù .
Mom held her child's hand and slowly crossed the street.
挑灯看剑丨用AI赋能指挥信息系统
tiāo dēng kàn jiàn 丨 yòng A I fù néng zhǐ huī xìn xī xì tǒng
Lighting the lamp and looking at the sword丨Using AI to empower the command information system
...ages Group在2026财年上半年挑战中实现增长
. . . a g e s G r o u p zài 2 0 2 6 cái nián shàng bàn nián tiāo zhàn zhōng shí xiàn zēng cháng
... ages Group achieves growth amid challenges in the first half of fiscal 2026
龙七公:“万亿大市”挑大梁支撑基本面
lóng qī gōng : wàn yì dà shì tiāo dà liáng zhī chēng jī běn miàn
Long Qigong: "Trillion big city" takes the lead to support fundamentals
欧股强势 吸金额挑战新高...投资人看好欧洲经济
ōu gǔ qiáng shì xī jīn é tiāo zhàn xīn gāo . . . tóu zī rén kàn hǎo ōu zhōu jīng jì
European stocks are strong and challenge new highs... Investors are optimistic about the European economy
...冬能·场外音丨陆玮鑫:冬奥会需引入“鹰眼挑战”系..
. . . dōng néng chǎng wài yīn 丨 lù 玮 鑫 : dōng ào huì xū yǐn rù yīng yǎn tiāo zhàn xì . .
... Winter Energy Off-Field Sound丨Lu Weixin: The Winter Olympics need to introduce the "Eagle Eye Challenge" system:
汤姆喜欢挑战自己。
Tāngmǔ xǐhuan tiǎozhàn zìjǐ.
Tom likes challenging himself.
青年人总爱挑战极端。
Qīngniánrén zǒng ài tiǎozhàn jíduān.
Young people are apt to go to extremes.
他总是在挑剔别人的毛病。
Tā zǒngshì zài tiāoti biéren de máobìng.
He is always finding fault with others.
他挑起争议性高的话题，制造纷争。
Tā tiǎoqǐ zhēngyìxìng gāo de huàtí, zhìzào fēnzhēng.
He sows discord by raising controversial subjects.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 挑 (tiāo)?
Is 挑 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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