扎 (zhā): to prick, to run or stick (a needle etc) into, mug or jug used for serving beer (loanword from "jar")
扎 (zhā) is a Chinese character meaning “to prick.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (structural) and 乚 (structural). It ranks #1403 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 扎 a hand 扌 tying a bundle with string 乚. 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 prick
- to run or stick (a needle etc) into
- mug or jug used for serving beer (loanword from "jar")
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA hand 扌 tying a bundle with string 乚
Decomposition: ⿰扌乚 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 扎 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 挣扎 | zhēng zhá | to struggle |
| 包扎 | bāo zā | variant of 包紮|包扎[bao1 za1] |
| 驻扎 | zhù zhā | to station |
| 莫扎特 | mò zhā tè | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), Austrian composer |
| 结扎 | jié zā | to tie up |
| 扎营 | zhā yíng | to camp |
| 垂死挣扎 | chuí sǐ zhēng zhá | deathbed struggle |
| 扎根 | zhā gēn | to take root |
| 扎实 | zhā shi | strong |
| 扎针 | zhā zhēn | to give or have an acupuncture treatment |
| 扎伊尔 | zhā yī ěr | Zaire, former name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| 巴尔扎克 | bā ěr zhā kè | Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850), French novelist, author of series La comédie humaine |
| 扎眼 | zhā yǎn | garish |
| 乞力马扎罗山 | qǐ lì mǎ zhā luó shān | Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania |
| 稳扎稳打 | wěn zhā wěn dǎ | to go steady and strike hard (in fighting) |
扎 appears in 66 compound words: 52 as the first character, 21 as the last, and 27 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 扎 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (6)
to go ahead steadily and strike sure blows (in war); to go about things steadily and surely
to go ahead steadily and strike sure blows (in war); to go about things steadily and surely
Showing 5 of 6 idioms containing 扎.
Example Sentences
请扎出你的证件,配合我们的工作。
qǐng zhā chū nǐ de zhèng jiàn , pèi gě wǒ men de gōng zuò .
Please present your identification and cooperate with our work.
娜扎内衣照曝光 浑圆美胸一览无遗
娜 zhā nèi yī zhào pù guāng hún yuán měi xiōng yī lǎn wú yí
Nazha's underwear photos are exposed, and the round and beautiful breasts are at a glance
黄春罐:阿末扎希有机会担任首相吗?
huáng chūn guàn : ā mò zhā xī yǒu jī huì dān rèn shǒu xiāng ma ?
Huang Chuncan: Does Ahmad Zahid have a chance to be prime minister?
希音将继续扎根广东 投超百亿元建设智慧供应链总部
xī yīn jiāng jì xù zhā gēn guǎng dōng tóu chāo bǎi yì yuán jiàn shè zhì huì gōng yīng liàn zǒng bù
Shein will continue to take root in Guangdong and invest more than 10 billion yuan to build a smart supply chain headquarters
外国游客扎堆北京过年 中国年味儿成功圈粉全球游客
wài guó yóu kè zhā duī běi jīng guò nián zhōng guó nián wèi ér chéng gōng juān fěn quán qiú yóu kè
Foreign tourists gather in Beijing for the New Year, and the Chinese New Year flavor has successfully attracted tourists from all over the world
坐拥百万粉丝的他,为何归零重启,一头扎进金山田野?
zuò yōng bǎi wàn fěn sī de tā , wéi hé guī líng chóng qǐ , yī tóu zhā jìn jīn shān tián yě ?
With millions of fans, why did he return to zero and restart and plunge headlong into the fields of Jinshan?
你喜欢莫扎特的音乐吗?
Nǐ xǐhuan Mòzhātè de yīnyuè ma?
Do you like Mozart's music?
穆阿迈尔·卡扎菲是个权力狂。
Mù'āmài'ěr · Kǎzhāfēi shì ge quánlìkuáng.
Muammar Gaddafi is a megalomaniac.
我挣扎着挤出地铁。
Wǒ zhēngzhá zhe jǐchū dìtiě.
I struggled to get out of the subway.
我用丝带在头上扎了一个马尾辫。
Wǒ yòng sīdài zài tóushàng zā le yī gè mǎwěibiàn.
I used a ribbon to tie my hair into a ponytail.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 扎 (zhā) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 扎 have?
What is the radical of 扎?
What are the components of 扎?
What are common words containing 扎?
What characters sound the same as 扎 (zhā)?
Is 扎 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 扎 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.