Dictionary › 坑

坑

kēng

HSK 6 Character

What 坑 means

1. pit; hollow; depression
2. (mining) pit; shaft; tunnel
3. literaryto bury alive
4. colloquialto cheat; to scam; to screw over

Other readings

坑 is 多音字 — it is read more than one way, and the reading changes the meaning.

• kēngvariant of {坑|kēng}

Example sentences

• 我只用一天就用铲子挖了一个大坑。
  I dug a huge pit with my shovel in just one day.
• 他愤怒地践踏水坑，弄得泥水四溅。
  Angrily, he stomped on the puddle, splashing mud everywhere.
• 马尼夸根湖是加拿大魁北克的环形湖，是2亿年前一场巨大冲击形成的陨石坑遗迹。
  Mǎ ní kuā gēn hú shì Jiānádà Kuíběikè de huánxíng hú, shì 2 yì niánqián yī chǎng jùdà chōngjī xíngchéng de yǔnshíkēng yíjì.
  Lake Manicouagan, a ring-shaped lake in Quebec, Canada, is all that remains of a crater from a massive impact over 200 million years ago.
• 今天是 2025 年 7 月 3 日，阳光明媚。7 月 7日是日本的七夕。今天早上，在露露岛上，我两次去了提姆霍顿斯咖啡馆，先是点了燕麦奶冰咖啡，然后又点了草莓西瓜气泡饮配香肠卷。我还去了「蛤蜊寺」。路上，我瞥了一眼迷人的竹林。一位老人在竹林旁挖了几个坑，用吃剩的芒果和樱桃堆肥。在咖啡馆里，我和格雷格聊了起来。格雷格是个白人，他梦想着和他的日本妻子在北海道钏路开一家民宿。那里的特色是当地的阿伊努族人和沼泽地。今天，剃着光头的格雷格穿着米色 T 恤和米色短裤，也许带着一丝恰巴卡诺酒的韵味？
  It's a sunny 3rd of July of 2025. On the 7th will be the Star Festival—Tanabata—in Japan. This morning, here on Lulu Island, I strolled to Tim Hortons café twice—Iced Coffee with oat milk, then Strawberry Watermelon Sparkling Quencher with a Sausage Farmer's Wrap. I went to the "Clam Temple." On the way, I glanced at the charming bamboo grove. An old man had dug holes beside it to put compost—eaten mangoes and cherries. At the café, I spoke to Greg, the white man who eventually wants to own a B&B in Kushiro, Hokkaido, with his Japanese wife. The native Ainu and marshes are attractions there. Today, head-shaven Greg is wearing a beige T-shirt and beige shorts—maybe a hint of Chabacano?

Words starting with 坑

• 坑坑洼洼kēng keng wā wāfull of pits and hollows; bumpy
• 坑道kēng dàomine shaft; gallery; tunnel
• 坑人kēng rén(colloquial) to cheat; to swindle; to rip sb off; to screw sb over
• 坑害kēng hàito trap; to frame
• 坑井kēng jǐng(mine) galleries and pits
• 坑口Kēng kǒuHang Hau (area in Hong Kong)
• 坑坎kēng kǎnuneven (road); depression (in terrain)
• 坑木kēng mùpit prop
• 坑杀kēng shāto bury alive; to ensnare
• 坑洞kēng dònghole; pit; pothole
• 坑蒙kēng mēngto swindle
• 坑骗kēng piànto cheat; to swindle
• 坑蒙拐骗kēng mēng guǎi piàn(idiom) to swindle, scam and deceive
• 坑爹kēng diēto get one's father involved in a difficult situation…
• 坑洼kēng wāhole; hollow; depression; low-lying

Words containing 坑

• 大坑Dà kēngTai Hang District, Hong Kong; Dakeng, the name of several places in Taiwan, notably a…
• 火坑huǒ kēngpit of fire; fig. living hell
• 茅坑máo kēnglatrine pit; latrine
• 水坑shuǐ kēngpuddle; water hole; sump
• 粪坑fèn kēnglatrine pit; cesspit
• 沙坑shā kēngsandbox; jumping pit (athletics); sand trap, bunker (golf)
• 基坑jī kēngfoundation groove; trench for building foundation
• 墓坑mù kēngtomb pit
• 天坑tiān kēngsinkhole
• 弹坑dàn kēngbomb crater; shell crater; mine crater
• 挖坑wā kēngto dig a hole; (fig.) to make things difficult for sb…
• 月坑yuè kēnglunar crater
• 泥坑ní kēngmud pit; mire; morass
• 渗坑shèn kēngsewage pit
• 矿坑kuàng kēngmine; mine shaft
• 陷坑xiàn kēngpitfall; pit as animal trap
• 撞击坑zhuàng jī kēngimpact crater
• 散兵坑sǎn bīng kēngfoxhole (military)
• 污水坑wū shuǐ kēngcesspit
• 沙坑杆shā kēng gānsand wedge (golf)
• 炮弹坑pào dàn kēngshell crater; shell hole
• 无底坑wú dǐ kēngthe bottomless pit (Hell in the Bible); pitless (elevator)
• 避弹坑bì dàn kēngfoxhole
• 满坑满谷mǎn kēng mǎn gǔ(idiom) all over the place; in every nook and cranny; packed to the rafters

Characters that look like 坑

Easy to confuse on sight. Compare them side by side once and the pair stops costing you.

• 玩wánto play; to have fun; to trifle with
• 抗kàngto resist; to fight; to defy
• 扰rǎoto disturb
• 杭Hángsurname Hang; abbr. for Hangzhou 杭州
• 枕zhěn(bound form) pillow; to rest one's head on (Taiwan pr. zhèn)
• 拢lǒngto gather together; to collect; to approach; to draw near to; to add; to sum up

Sounds the same

Read kēng, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 吭to utter
• 铿(onomatopoeia) clang; jingling of metals; to strike
• 牼shank bone of ox
• 硁obstinate
• 硻obstinate
• 誙(arch.) definitely; sure!
• 坈old variant of 坑
• 銵old variant of 铿