(): nest

() is a Chinese character meaning “nest.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (semantic) and (phonetic). It ranks #1935 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, cave. Its radical form (cave) appears in many related characters such as 穿 (chuān, to wear, 穿透), (kōng, empty, sky), (, sudden).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. nest

Etymology & Origin

pictophoneticcave

Decomposition: ⿱穴呙 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

Practice writing with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
wō nang fèi(coll.) spineless coward
wō nangto feel vexed
yè wōarmpit
wō cángto harbor
fēng wōhoneycomb
wō xīnaggrieved
jiǔ wōdimple (on the cheek when smiling)
sà lā rè wōSarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina
bèi wō(traditional bedding) quilt wrapped around the body as a tube
yǎn wōeye socket
niǎo wōbird's nest
gā zhi wōarmpit
wō li dòuinternal strife (family, group, etc)
ān lè wōcomfortable niche
zéi wōthieves' lair
68
Total compounds
31
As first character
49
As last character
21
As middle character

appears in 68 compound words: 31 as the first character, 49 as the last, and 21 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

kuò
0.6323,666 co-occurrences
fēng
0.6214,296 co-occurrences
jiá
0.502180 co-occurrences
yān
0.4651,488 co-occurrences
0.464828 co-occurrences
péng
0.457576 co-occurrences
bèn
0.438102 co-occurrences
chái
0.4381,008 co-occurrences
0.43084 co-occurrences
bǎo
0.4261,800 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (4)

tiáo sān wō sìHSK 7+

to sow the seeds of discord everywhere (idiom)

phrase
SàlārèwōHSK 7+

Sarajevo (the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina)

tiǎo sān wō sìHSK 7+

to sow discord everywhere

phrase
tǒng mǎfēngwōHSK 7+

to stir up a hornets' nest

verb

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

小鸟在树上筑了一个,准备孵蛋。

Xiǎo niǎo zài shù shang zhù le yí gè wō, zhǔnbèi fū dàn.

The little bird built a nest in the tree, preparing to hatch eggs.

The Beijing NewsMar 2026

...孕到哺乳,一人吃两人补丨适合孕妇食用的燕品牌推荐

. . . yùn dào bǔ rǔ , yī rén chī liǎng rén bǔ 丨 shì gě yùn fù shí yòng de yān wō pǐn pái tuī jiàn

...From Pregnancy to Breastfeeding: One Meal, Double the Nutrition | Recommended Bird's Nest Brands for Pregnant Women

Hk01.comMar 2026

葵涌冧天秤|大口道部份路段解封 4条巴士线仍须改道

葵 chōng 冧 tiān chēng dà wō kǒu dào bù fèn lù duàn jiě fēng 4 tiáo bā shì xiàn réng xū gǎi dào

Kwai Chung and Tin Hau | Partial Reopening of Tai Wo Hau Road; 4 Bus Routes Still Require Detours

Hk01.comMar 2026

葵涌冧天秤|石头街与上角街之间大口道解封 部份巴士线仍改道

葵 chōng 冧 tiān chēng shí tóu jiē yǔ shàng jiǎo jiē zhī jiān dà wō kǒu dào jiě fēng bù fèn bā shì xiàn réng gǎi dào

Kwai Chung Traffic Update: Tai Wo Hau Road between Shek Tau Street and Sheung Kok Street Reopens; Some Bus Routes Still Diverted

百度新闻Feb 2026

“希望老百姓安宁幸福” 他的新春愿望和冬子的雪一..

xī wàng lǎo bǎi xìng ān nìng xìng fú tā de xīn chūn yuàn wàng hé dōng wō zǐ de xuě yī . .

"I wish the people peace and happiness." His wish for the New Year is the same as the snow in the winter harbor...

百度新闻Feb 2026

这届年轻人的消费,要花在“心”里

zhè jiè nián qīng rén de xiāo fèi , yāo huā zài xīn wō lǐ

This generation of young people will spend in their hearts.

Tatoeba

不如自己的狗

Jīnwō yínwō bùrú zìjǐ de gǒuwō.

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.

Tatoeba

黄蜂袭击了孩子们。

Yī wō huángfēng xíjī le háizimen.

A swarm of hornets attacked the children.

Tatoeba

汤姆的发型像鸟

Tāngmǔ de fàxíng xiàng niǎowō.

Tom has a bird's nest hairstyle.

Tatoeba

他真是刚出狼又入虎穴。

Tā zhēnshi gāng chū láng wō yòu rù hǔ xué.

He fell out of the frying pan into the fire.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 窝 (wō) mean in Chinese?
窝 (wō) primarily means "nest." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #1935 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 窝 and 锅?
窝 (wō) and 锅 (guō) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 穴 vs 钅 (same 呙 component).
How many strokes does 窝 have?
窝 is written with 12 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 窝?
The radical associated with 窝 is 穴 (cave). This radical appears in many characters related to cave.
What are the components of 窝?
窝 is composed of: 穴 (semantic), 呙 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱穴呙 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 窝?
Common words with 窝 include: 窝囊废 (wō nang fèi, "(coll.) spineless coward"); 窝囊 (wō nang, "to feel vexed"); 腋窝 (yè wō, "armpit"); 窝藏 (wō cáng, "to harbor"); 蜂窝 (fēng wō, "honeycomb"). There are over 68 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 窝 (wō)?
Several characters share the pronunciation wō: 我 (I), 沃 (fertile), 卧 (to lie), 握 (to hold). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 窝 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 窝 and the traditional form is 窩.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.