捉 (zhuō): to clutch, to grab, to capture
捉 (zhuō) is a Chinese character meaning “to clutch.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (semantic) and 足 (phonetic). It ranks #1805 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 捉 hand. 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 clutch
- to grab
- to capture
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 捉 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 捕捉verb | bǔ zhuō | to catch |
| 捉弄verb | zhuō nòng | to tease |
| 捉住 | zhuō zhù | to catch |
| 活捉verb | huó zhuō | to capture alive |
| 捉摸verb | zhuō mō | to fathom |
| 捉拿verb | zhuō ná | to arrest |
| 捉奸verb | zhuō jiān | to catch a couple in the act (adultery, illicit sexual relations) |
| 捕风捉影phrase | bǔ fēng zhuō yǐng | lit. chasing the wind and clutching at shadows (idiom) |
| 捉摸不定 | zhuō mō bù dìng | (idiom) unpredictable |
| 捉拿归案 | zhuō ná guī àn | to bring to justice |
| 捉襟见肘phrase | zhuō jīn jiàn zhǒu | lit. pulling on the lapels exposes the elbows (idiom) |
| 不管白猫黑猫，捉住老鼠就是好猫 | bù guǎn bái māo hēi māo , zhuō zhù lǎo shǔ jiù shì hǎo māo | it doesn't matter whether a cat is white or black |
| 难以捉摸 | nán yǐ zhuō mō | elusive |
| 捉对 | zhuō duì | to pair off (for a confrontation) |
| 关门捉贼phrase | guān mén zhuō zéi | to catch a thief by closing his escape route (idiom) |
捉 appears in 24 compound words: 63 as the first character, 8 as the last, and 29 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 捉 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (7)
to accuse others of wrongdoing as the wrongdoer to escape guilt and responsibility by diverting attention
Showing 6 of 7 idioms containing 捉.
Example Sentences
猫捉老鼠是它的天性，不需要人教。
Māo zhuō lǎoshǔ shì tā de tiānxìng, bù xūyào rén jiāo.
It's a cat's instinct to catch mice; it doesn't need to be taught.
阿富汗:击落巴方战机 活捉巴基斯坦飞行员
ā fù hàn : jī luò bā fāng zhàn jī huó zhuō bā jī sī tǎn fēi háng yuán
Afghanistan: Pakistani fighter plane shot down Pakistani pilot alive
被指开展核试验 中外交部批美“捕风捉影、栽赃抹黑”
bèi zhǐ kāi zhǎn hé shì yàn zhōng wài jiāo bù pī měi bǔ fēng zhuō yǐng , zāi zāng mā hēi
Accused of carrying out nuclear tests, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized the United States for "chasing after the wind and planting stolen goods"
好难捉摸!今晚谷草投注额跌!
hǎo nán zhuō mō ! jīn wǎn gǔ cǎo tóu zhù é diē !
It's so elusive! Grass bets fell tonight!
...春节变散财童子!打麻将天天输钱 想野生捕捉快冲台大校园
. . . chūn jié biàn sàn cái tóng zǐ ! dǎ má jiāng tiān tiān shū qián xiǎng yě shēng bǔ zhuō kuài chōng tái dà jiào yuán
... Become a wealthy boy during the Spring Festival! Playing mahjong and losing money every day, I want to catch it wild and rush to the campus of National Taiwan University
警察變毒販 歐塞奎拉凶殘難捉摸
jǐng chá 變 dú 販 歐 sāi 奎 lā xiōng 殘 難 zhuō mō
Cop Turned Drug Dealer: Osequilla's Brutality and Elusiveness
猎人们用坚韧的绳网把野生动物捉住了。
Lièrén men yòng jiānrèn de shéng wǎng bǎ yěshēngdòngwù zhuōzhù le.
The hunters captured the wild animal with a strong rope net.
他们利用陷阱捕捉狐狸。
Tāmen lìyòng xiànjǐng bǔzhuō húli.
Using a trap, they caught the fox.
咱们玩儿捉迷藏吧。
Zánmen wánr zhuōmícáng ba.
Let's play a game of blind man's buff.
不管黑猫白猫，能捉老鼠就是好猫。
Bù guǎn hēi māo bái māo, néng zhuō lǎoshǔ jiùshì hǎo māo.
Whether it's white or black, a cat that chases mice is a good cat.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 捉 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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