Dictionary › 扫

扫

sǎo

HSK 3 Character Traditional 掃

What 扫 means

1. to sweep (with a brush or broom)
2. to sweep away; to wipe out; to get rid of
3. to sweep (one's eyes etc) over; to scan

Other readings

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

• sàoa (large) broom

Example sentences

• 打扫房间。
  Clean the room.
• 你必须扫地。
  You have to sweep the floor.
• 我让他扫地了。
  Wǒ ràng tā sǎodì le.
  I made him sweep the floor.
• 今晚谁要打扫？
  Who's going to clean up tonight?
• 清扫你的房间。
  Clean your room.
• 我找不到扫把了。
  Wǒ zhǎobudào sàobǎ le.
  I can't find the broom.

Words starting with 扫

• 扫描sǎo miáoto scan
• 扫地sǎo dìto sweep the floor; (fig.) (of one's reputation etc) to reach rock bottom…
• 扫帚sào zhoubroom
• 扫荡sǎo dàng(military) to mop up; to crack down on; to eradicate
• 扫兴sǎo xìngto spoil things; to dampen spirits; to feel deflated; to be dispirited
• 扫视sǎo shìto run one's eyes over; to sweep one's eyes over
• 扫射sǎo shèto rake with machine gunfire; to strafe; to machine-gun down
• 扫除sǎo chúto clean; to clean up; to eliminate; to wipe out
• 扫墓sǎo mùto sweep a grave (and pay one's respects to the dead person)
• 扫把sào bǎbroom
• 扫盲sǎo mángto wipe out illiteracy
• 扫描仪sǎo miáo yíscanner (device)
• 扫黄sǎo huángcampaign against pornography
• 扫码sǎo mǎto scan a QR code or barcode
• 扫街sǎo jiēto sweep the streets; to canvas (for votes, sales etc)
• 扫货sǎo huòto go on a shopping spree; to buy in bulk
• 扫雷sǎo léito clear mines
• 扫黑sǎo hēito crack down on illegal activities; to fight organized crime
• 扫把星sào bǎ xīngcomet; person who brings bad luck; jinx
• 扫描器sǎo miáo qìscanner
• 扫码枪sǎo mǎ qiānghandheld barcode scanner
• 扫除机sǎo chú jīmechanical sweeper
• 扫雪车sǎo xuě chēsnowplow
• 扫除天下sǎo chú tiān xià(idiom) to re-establish order throughout the empire

Words containing 扫

• 打扫dǎ sǎoto clean; to sweep
• 清扫qīng sǎoto tidy up; to mop up; a sweep (against crime)
• 横扫héng sǎoto sweep away; to sweep across
• 一扫而空yī sǎo ér kōng(idiom) to make a clean sweep of; to clean out
• 威信扫地wēi xìn sǎo dìto lose every scrap of reputation
• 打扫卫生dǎ sǎo wèi shēngto do the cleaning; to clean up
• 数码扫描shù mǎ sǎo miáoa digital scan
• 断层扫描duàn céng sǎo miáoCT scan (computed tomography scan)
• 超声扫描chāo shēng sǎo miáoultrasonic scan
• 逐行扫描zhú háng sǎo miáoline by line scanning; progressive scanning
• 隔行扫描gé háng sǎo miáointerlaced scanning
• 电脑断层扫描diàn nǎo duàn céng sǎo miáoCAT scan; CT scan
• 名誉扫地míng yù sǎo dìto be thoroughly discredited; to fall into disrepute
• 颜面扫地yán miàn sǎo dìlit. for one's face to reach rock bottom; to be thoroughly discredited (idiom)
• 秋风扫落叶qiū fēng sǎo luò yèlit. as the autumn gale sweeps away the fallen leaves (idiom)…
• 拂扫fú sǎowhisk
• 横扫千军héng sǎo qiān jūntotal annihilation
• 各人自扫门前雪，莫管他家瓦上霜gè rén zì sǎo mén qián xuě , mò guǎn tā jiā wǎ shàng shuāngsweep the snow from your own door step, don't worry about the frost on your neighbor's…
• 一扫而光yī sǎo ér guāngsee 一扫而空
• 回扫huí sǎosee 回描

Characters that look like 扫

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

• 拟nǐdoubtful; suspicious; variant of 拟
• 初chū(bound form) at first; initially; (bound form) first; early…
• 纽niǔto turn; to wrench; button
• 扣kòuto fasten; to button; button
• 扭niǔto turn; to twist; to wring
• 扯chěto pull; to tear; (of cloth, thread etc) to buy

Sounds the same

Read sǎo, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 嫂(bound form) older brother's wife; sister-in-law