偷 (tōu): to steal, to pilfer, to snatch
偷 (tōu) is a Chinese character meaning “to steal.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 亻 (semantic) and 俞 (phonetic). It ranks #1276 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 偷 person. Its radical form 亻 (person) appears in many related characters such as 人 (rén, person), 什 (shén, what), 今 (jīn, now).
Definitions
- to steal
- to pilfer
- to snatch
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
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Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 偷
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 小偷noun | xiǎo tōu | thief |
| 偷窃verb | tōu qiè | to steal |
| 偷情verb | tōu qíng | to carry on a clandestine love affair |
| 偷看verb | tōu kàn | to peep |
| 偷听verb | tōu tīng | to eavesdrop |
| 偷窥verb | tōu kuī | to peep |
| 偷偷摸摸phrase | tōu tōu mō mō | (idiom) surreptitious |
| 偷袭verb | tōu xí | to mount a sneak attack |
| 偷拍verb | tōu pāi | to photograph or film sb without their knowledge or consent |
| 偷懒verb | tōu lǎn | to goof off |
| 偷盗verb | tōu dào | to steal |
| 偷渡noun | tōu dù | illegal immigration |
| 偷运verb | tōu yùn | to smuggle |
| 小偷小摸noun | xiǎo tōu xiǎo mō | to engage in petty theft |
| 偷生verb | tōu shēng | to live without purpose |
偷 appears in 62 compound words: 79 as the first character, 5 as the last, and 16 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 偷 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (12)
a martial arts move that strikes an opponent's testicles.; a cheap shot
(idiom) to snatch a moment of leisure in the midst of a busy schedule
to engage in petty thievery; to not do things in an open and above board manner
a martial arts move that strikes an opponent's testicles.; a cheap shot
(idiom) to snatch a moment of leisure in the midst of a busy schedule
to engage in petty thievery; to not do things in an open and above board manner
Showing 11 of 12 idioms containing 偷.
Example Sentences
那个偷影在月光下显得格外孤独。
nā gě tōu yǐng zài yuè guāng xià xiǎn dé gé wài gū dú .
The shadow thief looked especially lonely in the moonlight.
意大利小偷把肾结石误认黄金偷走,科学认识肾结石很重...
yì dà lì xiǎo tōu bǎ shèn jié shí wù rèn huáng jīn tōu zǒu , kē xué rèn shí shèn jié shí hěn chóng . . .
Italian thieves mistook kidney stones for gold and stole them, and scientifically recognized that kidney stones are very serious...
意大利小偷把肾结石误认黄金偷走!医生:这“石头”比...
yì dà lì xiǎo tōu bǎ shèn jié shí wù rèn huáng jīn tōu zǒu ! yī shēng : zhè shí tóu bǐ . . .
Italian thief mistook kidney stones for gold and stole them! Doctor: This "stone" is better than...
潜入国小偷拍女童如厕判7年2月 恶男二审刑度大减改...
qián rù guó xiǎo tōu pāi nǚ tóng rú cè pàn 7 nián 2 yuè è nán èr shěn xíng dù dà jiǎn gǎi . . .
Infiltrating a national elementary school to secretly photograph a girl going to the toilet was sentenced to 7 years and 2 months, and the sentence of the evil man in the second instance was greatly reduced...
日扭蛋店社长偷拍女客裙底 手机藏2千部影片辩“压力大忍...
rì niǔ dàn diàn shè cháng tōu pāi nǚ kè qún de shǒu jī zàng 2 qiān bù yǐng piàn biàn yā lì dà rěn . . .
The president of the Japanese gachapon shop secretly filmed the female customer's skirt and hid 2,000 videos on his mobile phone to defend "the pressure is enduring...
以为黄金!贼闯宅偷宝盒 他:是我肾结石
yǐ wéi huáng jīn ! zéi chuǎng zhái tōu bǎo hé tā : shì wǒ shèn jié shí
Think it's gold! Thieves break into the house and steal treasure boxes He: It's my kidney stones
警察抓著小偷的胳膊。
Jǐngchá zhuā zhe xiǎotōu de gēbo.
The policeman grabbed the robber's arm.
萨米因为偷窃被炒了鱿鱼。
Sà mǐ yīnwèi tōuqiè bèi chǎo le yóuyú.
Sami was fired from his job for stealing.
汤姆偷溜进了派对。
Tāngmǔ tōu liū jìn le pàiduì.
Tom snuck into the party.
汤姆偷了一颗苹果。
Tāngmǔ tōu le yī kē píngguǒ.
Tom stole an apple.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 亻 (person) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 偷 (tōu) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 偷 and 输?
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What is the radical of 偷?
What are the components of 偷?
What are common words containing 偷?
What characters sound the same as 偷 (tōu)?
Is 偷 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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