托 (tuō): to hold up in one's hand, to support with one's palm, sth serving as a support: a prop, a rest (e.g. arm rest), (bound form) a shill
托 (tuō) is a Chinese character meaning “to hold up in one's hand.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (structural) and 乇 (structural). It ranks #799 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 托 using one's hands 扌 for support 乇; 乇 also provides the pronunciation. 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 hold up in one's hand
- to support with one's palm
- sth serving as a support: a prop, a rest (e.g. arm rest)
- (bound form) a shill
Etymology & Origin
ideographicUsing one's hands 扌 for support 乇; 乇 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿰扌乇 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 托 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 托
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 委托verb | wěi tuō | to entrust | 6 |
| 摩托车noun | mó tuō chē | (loanword) motorbike | 6 |
| 托运verb | tuō yùn | to consign (goods) | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 拜托 | bài tuō | to request sb to do sth |
| 托尼 | tuō ní | (name) Tony |
| 托马斯 | tuō mǎ sī | Thomas (male name) |
| 摩托 | mó tuō | (loanword) motor |
| 信托 | xìn tuō | to entrust |
| 托举 | tuō jǔ | to lift and support |
| 托儿所 | tuō ér suǒ | nursery |
| 寄托 | jì tuō | to entrust (to sb) |
| 托付 | tuō fù | to entrust |
| 托盘 | tuō pán | tray |
| 托管 | tuō guǎn | trusteeship |
| 阿托品 | ā tuō pǐn | atropine C17H23NO3, alkaloid drug derived from deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) |
| 托儿 | tuō ér | childcare |
| 衬托 | chèn tuō | to serve to highlight |
| 奥托 | ào tuō | Otto |
托 appears in 100 compound words: 40 as the first character, 48 as the last, and 12 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 托 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (3)
lit. to shade in the clouds to offset the moon (idiom); fig. a foil; a contrasting character to a main hero
Example Sentences
他托起袖子，开始认真地打扫房间。
tā tuō qǐ xiù zǐ , kāi shǐ rèn zhēn dì dǎ sǎo fáng jiān .
He rolled up his sleeves and began to clean the room thoroughly.
康托·菲茨杰拉德基于AI需求前景重申英伟达股...
kāng tuō 菲 茨 jié lā dé jī yú A I xū qiú qián jǐng chóng shēn yīng wěi dá gǔ . . .
Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated Nvidia stocks based on AI demand outlook...
沃尔顿家族控股信托出售1.598亿美元沃尔玛(WMT)股票
wò ěr dùn jiā zú kòng gǔ xìn tuō chū shòu 1 . 5 9 8 yì měi yuán wò ěr 玛 ( W M T ) gǔ piào
Walton Family Holding Trust sells $159.8 million in Walmart (WMT) stock
中国信托60周年 致敬棒球拚劲
zhōng guó xìn tuō 6 0 zhōu nián zhì jìng bàng qiú 拚 jìn
The 60th anniversary of China Trust pays tribute to the hard work of baseball
反乌托邦AI报告震撼华尔街 支付与软体股全面承...
fǎn wū tuō bāng A I bào gào zhèn hàn huá ěr jiē zhī fù yǔ ruǎn tǐ gǔ quán miàn chéng . . .
Dystopian AI report shocked Wall Street, payment and software stocks fully undertaken...
AI引发的反乌托邦就业危机:Nvidia的又一个催化剂?
A I yǐn fā de fǎn wū tuō bāng jiù yè wēi jī : N v i d i a de yòu yī gè cuī huà jì ?
AI-Induced Dystopian Jobs Crisis: Another Catalyst for Nvidia?
符拉迪沃斯托克是俄罗斯的一个城市。
Fúlādíwòsītuōkè shì éluósī de yī gè chéngshì.
Vladivostok is a city in Russia.
我昨天拜访了托尼。
Wǒ zuótiān bàifǎng le tuō ní.
I visited Tony yesterday.
乌兰巴托是蒙古的首都。
Wūlánbātuō shì Měnggǔ de shǒudū.
Ulaanbaatar is the capital of Mongolia.
托雷斯把球踢给了队友。
Tuō léi sī bǎ qiú tī gěi le duìyǒu.
Torres booted the ball to his teammate.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 托 (tuō) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 托 and 下?
How many strokes does 托 have?
What is the radical of 托?
What are the components of 托?
What are common words containing 托?
What characters sound the same as 托 (tuō)?
Is 托 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 托 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.