挖 (wā): to dig, to excavate, to scoop out
挖 (wā) is a Chinese character meaning “to dig.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (structural) and 穵 (structural). It ranks #1841 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 挖 to dig out 扌 a hollow 穵; 穵 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 dig
- to excavate
- to scoop out
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTo dig out 扌 a hollow 穵; 穵 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿰扌穵 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
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Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 挖掘 | wā jué | to excavate |
| 挖苦 | wā kǔ | to speak sarcastically |
| 开挖 | kāi wā | to dig out |
| 挖空心思 | wā kōng xīn si | to dig for thoughts (idiom) |
| 挖掘机 | wā jué jī | excavator |
| 挖土机 | wā tǔ jī | excavator |
| 挖墙脚 | wā qiáng jiǎo | to undermine |
| 吃水不忘挖井人 | chī shuǐ bù wàng wā jǐng rén | see 吃水不忘掘井人[chi1 shui3 bu4 wang4 jue2 jing3 ren2] |
| 耳挖子 | ěr wā zi | earpick |
| 挖开 | wā kāi | to dig into |
| 挖机 | wā jī | excavator |
| 挖浚 | wā jùn | to dredge |
| 挖空 | wā kōng | to excavate |
| 挖鼻子 | wā bí zi | to pick one's nose |
| 深挖 | shēn wā | to dredge |
挖 appears in 30 compound words: 73 as the first character, 13 as the last, and 13 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 挖 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
他挖起袖子，开始认真地打扫房间。
tā wā qǐ xiù zǐ , kāi shǐ rèn zhēn dì dǎ sǎo fáng jiān .
He rolled up his sleeves and began cleaning the room thoroughly.
... 财神爷骑马游街拜年万人空巷 黄瑞林建议挖掘巴生旅游特色
. . . cái shén yé qí mǎ yóu jiē bài nián wàn rén kōng xiàng huáng ruì lín jiàn yì wā jué bā shēng lǚ yóu tè sè
... The God of Wealth rode horses to the streets to pay New Year's greetings, and Huang Ruilin suggested exploring the tourism characteristics of Klang
导演惊喊“像挖到黄金”!《哈姆奈特》强势问鼎奥斯卡8项...
dǎo yǎn jīng hǎn xiàng wā dào huáng jīn ! hā mǔ nài tè qiáng shì wèn dǐng ào sī kǎ 8 xiàng . . .
The director exclaimed, "It's like digging gold"! "Hamnet" won 8 Oscars...
...贷款20年 486先生:是投资还是给自己挖坑?
. . . dài kuǎn 2 0 nián 4 8 6 xiān shēng : shì tóu zī hái shì gěi zì jǐ wā kēng ?
... Loan 20 years Mr. 486: Is it an investment or digging a hole for yourself?
“庆余年”男星“状告生父”历史被挖 摇身金牌讲师
qìng yú nián nán xīng zhuàng gào shēng fù lì shǐ bèi wā yáo shēn jīn pái jiǎng shī
"Qing Yu Nian" male star "sued his biological father" for "history was dug up and turned into a gold medal lecturer."
震撼!挖3563克拉紫星彩宝 飙126亿台币
zhèn hàn ! wā 3 5 6 3 kè lā zǐ xīng cǎi bǎo biāo 1 2 6 yì tái bì
Shocking! Digging 3,563 carats of purple star colored treasures soared to NT$12.6 billion
他们正在挖一个洞。
Tāmen zhèngzài wā yī gè dòng.
They're digging a hole.
出去钓鱼前，他挖出一些虫子当饵。
Chūqù diàoyú qián, tā wā chū yīxiē chóngzi dāng ěr.
Before he went fishing, he dug up some worms for bait.
他被竞争公司挖去了。
Tā bèi jìngzhēng gōngsī wā qù le.
He was hired away by a rival company.
你总是挖苦我的着装。
Nǐ zǒngshì wākǔ wǒ de zhuózhuāng.
You are always digging at me about my clothes.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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