Dictionary › 动手

动手

dòng shǒu

Old HSK 6 HSK 3.0 level 5 2-character word Traditional 動手

动手 (dòng shǒu) means "to get to work, start doing; to hit sb". It is an HSK 3.0 level 5 word, and was HSK 6 in the old six-level list.

What 动手 means

1. to set about (a task)
2. to raise a hand to hit sb
3. to touch; to handle (typically used in cautioning sb *not* to touch sth)

The characters in 动手

• 动dòng(of sth) to move; to set in movement; to displace
• 手shǒuhand; (formal) to hold; person engaged in certain types of work

Example sentences

• 自己动手真好。
  It's good to do it yourself.
• 汤姆善于动手。
  Tom is very good at doing things with his hands.
• 医生决定立刻动手术。
  The doctor decided to operate at once.
• 你是动手能力强的人吗？
  Nǐ shì dòngshǒu nénglì qiáng de rén ma?
  Are you a hands-on person?

Words starting with 动手

• 动手术dòng shǒu shù(of a surgeon) to operate (on sb); (of a patient) to have an operation
• 动手动脚dòng shǒu dòng jiǎoto come to blows; to paw; to grope
• 动手脚dòng shǒu jiǎo(colloquial) to tamper with; to mess around with

Words containing 动手

• 自己动手zì jǐ dòng shǒuto do (sth) oneself; to help oneself to
• 亲自动手qīn zì dòng shǒuto do the job oneself
• 君子动口不动手jūn zǐ dòng kǒu bù dòng shǒua gentleman uses his mouth and not his fist

Where 动手 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of HSK 6 Vocabulary · dòng–dū (HSK 6), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 6 word, with the rest of its level.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read dòng shǒu correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.