抓 (zhuā): to grab, to catch
抓 (zhuā) is a Chinese character meaning “to grab, to catch.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (structural) and 爪 (structural). It ranks #991 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 抓 a hand 扌 with claws 爪; 爪 also provides the pronunciation. 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 grab, to catch
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA hand 扌 with claws 爪; 爪 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿰扌爪 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 抓 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 抓
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 抓住verb | zhuā zhù | to grab hold of |
| 抓捕verb | zhuā bǔ | to seize |
| 抓走 | zhuā zǒu | to arrest |
| 抓获verb | zhuā huò | to arrest |
| 抓拍verb | zhuā pāi | to capture (an image) |
| 一把抓verb | yī bǎ zhuā | to attempt all tasks at once |
| 抓阄verb | zhuā jiū | to draw straws |
| 抓手noun | zhuā shǒu | handhold |
| 抓取verb | zhuā qǔ | to seize |
| 抓药verb | zhuā yào | to make up a prescription (of herbal medicine) |
| 抓瞎verb | zhuā xiā | to be caught unprepared |
| 一抓一大把phrase | yī zhuā yī dà bǎ | (coll.) to be a dime a dozen |
| 头发胡子一把抓 | tóu fa hú zi yī bǎ zhuā | lit. hair and beard all in one stroke |
| 抓大放小 | zhuā dà fàng xiǎo | (PRC, mid-1990s) to restructure the large state-owned enterprises (SOEs) controlled by the central government and pri... |
| 抓地力 | zhuā dì lì | traction |
抓 appears in 56 compound words: 75 as the first character, 13 as the last, and 13 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 抓 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
警察抓住了小偷，追回了被盗的财物。
Jǐngchá zhuāzhù le xiǎotōu, zhuīhuí le bèi dào de cáiwù.
The police caught the thief and recovered the stolen property.
上次是抓马杜洛!卢比欧“机密汇报”国会8人帮 谈...
shàng cì shì zhuā mǎ dù 洛 ! 卢 bǐ ōu jī mì huì bào guó huì 8 rén bāng tán . . .
Last time it was to catch Maduro! Rubio's "confidential report" Congressional Gang of 8 talks...
...商务部:中方高度重视对德经贸合作 冀德企抓住新机遇
. . . shāng wù bù : zhōng fāng gāo dù chóng shì duì dé jīng mào gě zuò 冀 dé qǐ zhuā zhù xīn jī yù
... Ministry of Commerce: China attaches great importance to economic and trade cooperation with Germany and hopes that German enterprises will seize new opportunities
云林大黄狗被人从5楼丢下“凶手抓到了” 虐狗原因曝光
yún lín dà huáng gǒu bèi rén cóng 5 lóu diū xià xiōng shǒu zhuā dào le nüè gǒu yuán yīn pù guāng
The big yellow dog in Yunlin was dropped from the 5th floor "The murderer was caught" and the reason for the dog abuse was exposed
被抓现行!菲律宾海警在南海投放不明物体
bèi zhuā xiàn háng ! 菲 lǜ bīn hǎi jǐng zài nán hǎi tóu fàng bù míng wù tī
Caught in the act! Philippine Maritime Police Drop Unidentified Objects in South China Sea
菲律宾海警在南海投放不明物体被抓现行,监控画面公布
菲 lǜ bīn hǎi jǐng zài nán hǎi tóu fàng bù míng wù tī bèi zhuā xiàn háng , jiān kòng huà miàn gōng bù
Philippine Coast Guard caught red-handed deploying unidentified objects in South China Sea; surveillance footage released
我抓不到句子的确切含义。
Wǒ zhuā bù dào jùzi de quèqiè hányì.
I can't get at the exact meaning of the sentence.
在我们的饭店抓饭，拌面，烤肉串都有。
Zài wǒmen de fàndiàn zhuāfàn, bànmiàn, kǎoròu chuàn dōu yǒu.
We have pilaf, lo mein, and kebabs in our restaurant.
孩子抓住了猫的尾巴。
Háizi zhuāzhù le māo de wěiba.
The child grabbed the cat's tail.
警察把小偷抓住了。
Jǐngchá bǎ xiǎotōu zhuāzhù le.
The policeman caught the thief.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 抓 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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