卧 (wò): to lie, to crouch
卧 (wò) is a Chinese character meaning “to lie.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 臣 (structural) and 卜 (structural). It ranks #1919 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 卧 a person 卜 (altered form of 人) laying in bed 臣. Its radical form 卜 (divination) appears in many related characters such as 占 (zhàn, to observe), 卡 (kǎ, to stop), 卜 (bǔ, (bound form) to divine).
Definitions
- to lie
- to crouch
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA person 卜 (altered form of 人) laying in bed 臣
Decomposition: ⿰臣卜 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 卧 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 卧
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 卧底verb | wò dǐ | to hide (as an undercover agent) |
| 俯卧撑noun | fǔ wò chēng | push-up |
| 卧倒verb | wò dǎo | to lie down |
| 卧床verb | wò chuáng | to lie in bed |
| 卧房noun | wò fáng | bedroom |
| 仰卧起坐noun | yǎng wò qǐ zuò | sit-up (physical exercise) |
| 卧铺noun | wò pù | a bed (on a train) |
| 卧病verb | wò bìng | ill in bed |
| 仰卧verb | yǎng wò | to lie supine |
| 卧薪尝胆phrase | wò xīn cháng dǎn | (lit.) to sleep on brushwood and taste gall (like King Goujian of Yue 勾踐|勾践, in order to recall one's hum... |
| 俯卧verb | fǔ wò | to lie prone |
| 侧卧 | cè wò | to lie on one's side |
| 卧龙自然保护区 | wò lóng zì rán bǎo hù qū | Wolong National Nature Reserve in Wenchuan county, northwest Sichuan, home of the giant panda 大熊貓|大熊猫 |
| 和衣而卧 | hé yī ér wò | to lie down to sleep with one's clothes on |
| 卧不安 | wò bù ān | restless insomnia |
卧 appears in 56 compound words: 54 as the first character, 30 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 卧 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (7)
intertwined dragons and sleeping tigers; talented men still remaining in concealment
to undergo self-imposed hardships; to nurse vengeance; to endure hardships to accomplish some ambition
Example Sentences
卧字的写法很特别，让我印象深刻。
wò zì de xiě fǎ hěn tè bié , ràng wǒ yìn xiàng shēn kè .
The way the character "卧" is written is quite unique and left a deep impression on me.
跟《卧底洪小姐》姜诺拉学无害千金穿搭 半统袜搭...
gēn wò de hóng xiǎo jiě jiāng nuò lā xué wú hài qiān jīn chuān dā bàn tǒng wà dā . . .
With "Undercover Miss Hong" Jiang Nora learned harmless daughter outfits and semi-unified socks...
...火警|灾后一片狼藉婚纱焚毁 模特儿公仔倒卧窗边
. . . huǒ jǐng zāi hòu yī piàn láng 藉 hūn shā fén huǐ mó tè ér gōng zǐ dǎo wò chuāng biān
... After the fire, a mess of wedding dresses was burned, and the model doll was lying by the window
68岁议员陈绍雄澳洲急病入院卧床 未能返港料缺席立法会多场会议
6 8 suì yì yuán chén shào xióng ào zhōu jí bìng rù yuàn wò chuáng wèi néng fǎn gǎng liào quē xí lì fǎ huì duō chǎng huì yì
68-year-old Member Chan Siu-hung was hospitalized in Australia due to an emergency and was bedridden and was unable to return to Hong Kong, and is expected to miss many meetings of the Legislative Council
卧底娇娃|陈滢“黄金32C”画面爆回响 与...
wò de jiāo wá chén 滢 huáng jīn 3 2 C huà miàn bào huí xiǎng yǔ . . .
Undercover Jiao Wa|Chen Ying's "Golden 32C" picture exploded with...
你卧室里有电视吗？
Nǐ wòshì lǐ yǒudiàn shì ma?
Is there a TV in your bedroom?
你为什么在我的卧室里？
Nǐ wèishénme zài wǒ de wòshì lǐ?
Why are you in my bedroom?
你们想看看我的卧室吗？
Nǐmen xiǎng kànkan wǒ de wòshì ma?
Do you want to see my bedroom?
这趟火车有卧铺车吗？
Zhè tàng huǒchē yǒu wòpù chē ma?
Does this train have a sleeping car?
我们听到卧室里有声音。
Wǒmen tīngdào wòshì lǐ yǒu shēngyīn.
We heard a voice from the bedroom.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 卧 (wò) mean in Chinese?
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What characters sound the same as 卧 (wò)?
Is 卧 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 卧 with real-time feedback
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