爪 (zhǎo): foot of a bird or animal, paw, claws
爪 (zhǎo) is a Chinese character meaning “foot of a bird or animal.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 丨 (structural). It ranks #2293 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically pictographic, 爪 a bird's talons. Its radical form 爪 (claw) appears in many related characters such as 爬 (pá, to crawl), 爵 (jué, ancient bronze wine holder with 3 legs and loop handle).
Definitions
- foot of a bird or animal
- paw
- claws
Etymology & Origin
pictographicA bird's talons
Stroke Order
Practice writing 爪 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 爪子 | zhuǎ zi | (animal's) claw |
| 魔爪 | mó zhǎo | evil clutches |
| 爪牙 | zhǎo yá | pawn |
| 张牙舞爪 | zhāng yá wǔ zhǎo | to bare fangs and brandish claws (idiom) |
| 爪哇 | zhǎo wā | Java (island of Indonesia) |
| 脚爪 | jiǎo zhǎo | paw |
| 爪字头 | zhǎo zì tóu | Chinese character component 爫, used in 受, 妥, 乳 etc |
| 东鳞西爪 | dōng lín xī zhǎo | lit. a dragon's scale from the east and a dragon's claw from the west |
| 去爪 | qù zhuǎ | to declaw (a cat etc) |
| 一鳞半爪 | yī lín bàn zhǎo | lit. one scale and half a claw (idiom) |
| 爪机 | zhuǎ jī | (Internet slang) mobile phone |
| 八爪鱼 | bā zhuǎ yú | octopus |
| 爪儿 | zhuǎ r | paws (of small animal) |
| 利爪 | lì zhǎo | sharp claw |
| 爪尖儿 | zhuǎ jiān r | pig's trotters |
爪 appears in 35 compound words: 40 as the first character, 37 as the last, and 23 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 爪 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (5)
a goose's footprint in the snow; vestiges of the past (idiom); the fleeting nature of human life (idiom)
a goose's footprint in the snow; vestiges of the past (idiom); the fleeting nature of human life (idiom)
Example Sentences
爪字由4笔画组成，结构很巧妙。
zhǎo zì yóu bǐ huà zǔ chéng , jié gòu hěn qiǎo miào .
The character "爪" consists of four strokes and has a very clever structure.
小胡鸭柠檬酸辣凤爪:春日清爽解馋
xiǎo hú yā 柠 檬 suān là fèng zhǎo : chūn rì qīng shuǎng jiě chán
Xiao Hu Ya's Lemon-Spicy Chicken Wings: A Refreshing Spring Treat
针对漂白鸡爪等违法行 市监局强调严查到底
zhēn duì piāo bái jī zhǎo děng wéi fǎ háng shì jiān jú qiáng diào yán chá dào de
In response to illegal practices such as bleaching chicken feet, the Market Supervision Bureau has emphasized that it will conduct thorough investigations
佛门不清净!2泰僧对7沙弥伸魔爪 警破门见满地保险套、润滑液
fó mén bù qīng jìng ! 2 tài sēng duì 7 shā mí shēn mó zhǎo jǐng pò mén jiàn mǎn dì bǎo xiǎn tào , rùn huá yè
The Buddhist community is not pure! Two Thai monks molested seven novices; police broke down the door to find the floor littered with condoms and lubricant.
养猫必看!4招轻松解决猫咪磨爪坏习惯 让你的沙发不再伤痕累累
yǎng māo bì kàn ! 4 zhāo qīng sōng jiě jué māo 咪 mó zhǎo huài xí guàn ràng nǐ de shā fā bù zài shāng hén lěi lěi
A must-see for raising cats! 4 ways to easily solve the bad habit of grinding cats so that your sofa is no longer scarred
...计小点 早午下午茶市都有 虾饺/烧卖/凤爪/叉烧包
. . . jì xiǎo diǎn zǎo wǔ xià wǔ chá shì dōu yǒu xiā jiǎo shāo mài fèng zhǎo chā shāo bāo
... Count the small order Morning, afternoon and afternoon tea market has shrimp dumplings/siu mai/chicken feet/char siu buns
爬树的动物, 比如猫, 长有爪子。
Pá shù de dòngwù, bǐrú māo, cháng yǒu zhuǎzi.
Animals that climb trees, like cats, have claws.
他用狗爪子从火里取走坚果。
Tāyòng gǒu zhuǎzi cóng huǒ lǐ qǔzǒu jiānguǒ.
He takes the nuts from the fire with the dog's foot.
齐里看到橡树上有一个很大的爪痕。
Qí lǐ kàn dào xiàngshù shàng yǒu yī gè hěn dà de zhǎo hén.
Ziri saw a large claw mark on the oak tree.
Character Family
爪 Radical Family — Characters sharing the claw radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 爪 (zhǎo) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 爪 have?
What is the radical of 爪?
What are the components of 爪?
What are common words containing 爪?
What characters sound the same as 爪 (zhǎo)?
Is 爪 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 爪 with real-time feedback
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