摘 (zhāi): to take, to pick (flowers, fruit etc), to pluck, to remove, to take off (glasses, hat etc), to select, to pick out, to borrow money at a time of urgent need
摘 (zhāi) is a Chinese character meaning “to take.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (structural) and 啇 (structural). It ranks #1996 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 摘 to pick 扌 a fruit off a branch 啇. 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 take
- to pick (flowers, fruit etc)
- to pluck
- to remove
- to take off (glasses, hat etc)
- to select
- to pick out
- to borrow money at a time of urgent need
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTo pick 扌 a fruit off a branch 啇
Decomposition: ⿰扌啇 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 摘 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 摘除verb | zhāi chú | to excise |
| 摘要noun | zhāi yào | summary |
| 文摘noun | wén zhāi | digest (of literature) |
| 采摘verb | cǎi zhāi | to pluck |
| 摘录verb | zhāi lù | to extract |
| 摘取verb | zhāi qǔ | to pluck |
| 摘抄verb | zhāi chāo | to extract |
| 读者文摘 | dú zhě wén zhāi | Reader's Digest |
| 摘下 | zhāi xià | to take off |
| 摘由verb | zhāi yóu | high points (of a document) |
| 活摘 | huó zhāi | to harvest (an organ) from a living person |
| 报摘 | bào zhāi | news digest |
| 指摘verb | zhǐ zhāi | to criticize |
| 摘记noun | zhāi jì | to take notes |
| 摘金verb | zhāi jīn | to win a gold medal |
摘 appears in 22 compound words: 73 as the first character, 27 as the last, and 0 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 摘 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
他摘了一个电话，约朋友晚上一起吃饭。
tā zhāi le yī gě diàn huà , yāo péng yǒu wǎn shǎng yī qǐ chī fàn .
He picked up the phone and made plans to have dinner with a friend that evening.
男星摘下眼镜变一个人 认少了眼镜真的“没安全感...
nán xīng zhāi xià yǎn jìng biàn yī gè rén rèn shǎo le yǎn jìng zhēn de méi ān quán gǎn . . .
The male star took off his glasses and became a person, admitting that he was really "insecure...
...)综合消息:谷爱凌U型场地技巧卫冕 美国摘赛会最后一金
. . . ) zèng gě xiāo xī : gǔ ài líng U xíng chǎng dì jì qiǎo wèi 冕 měi guó zhāi sài huì zuì hòu yī jīn
...) Comprehensive news: Gu Ailing defended her U-shaped track skills and won the last gold medal of the United States
(米兰冬奥会)谷爱凌、李方慧摘得自由式滑雪女子U池金、银牌
( mǐ lán dōng ào huì ) gǔ ài líng , lǐ fāng huì zhāi dé zì yóu shì huá xuě nǚ zǐ U chí jīn , yín pái
(Milan Winter Olympics) Gu Ailing and Li Fanghui won gold and silver medals in the women's U pool in freestyle skiing
美国男子冰球队46年来冬奥首次摘金 川普祝贺
měi guó nán zǐ bīng qiú duì 4 6 nián lái dōng ào shǒu cì zhāi jīn chuān pǔ zhù hè
The U.S. men's ice hockey team won gold at the Winter Olympics for the first time in 46 years, and Trump congratulated him
谷爱凌冬奥摘金 U型场地赛决赛夺94.75分
gǔ ài líng dōng ào zhāi jīn U xíng chǎng dì sài jué sài duó 9 4 . 7 5 fēn
Gu Ailing won gold at the Winter Olympics and won 94.75 points in the final of the halfpipe
在教室里请摘下帽子！
Zàijiào shì lǐ qǐng zhāixià màozi!
Take off your caps in the classroom!
她给我摘了一个苹果。
Tā gěi wǒ zhāi le yī gè píngguǒ.
She picked me an apple.
我们在花园里摘花。
Wǒmen zài huāyuán lǐ zhāi huā.
We picked flowers in the garden.
进教室的时候请把帽子摘了。
Jìn jiàoshì de shíhou qǐng bǎ màozi zhāi le.
Take off your hat when you enter a classroom.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 摘 (zhāi) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 摘 have?
What is the radical of 摘?
What are the components of 摘?
What are common words containing 摘?
What characters sound the same as 摘 (zhāi)?
Is 摘 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 摘 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.