Dictionary › 投

投

tóu

Old HSK 5 HSK 3.0 character level 5 Character

投 (tóu) means "to cast; to send; to throw oneself (into the river etc)". It is an HSK 3.0 level 5 word, and was HSK 5 in the old six-level list.

What 投 means

1. to throw (sth in a specific direction: ball, javelin, grenade etc)
2. to cast (a ballot)
3. to cast (a glance, a shadow etc)
4. to put in (money for investment, a coin to operate a slot machine)
5. to send (a letter, a manuscript etc)
6. to throw oneself into (a river, a well etc to commit suicide)
7. to go to; to seek refuge; to place oneself into the hands of
8. colloquialto rinse (clothes) in water

Example sentences

• 投进去！
  Throw in!
• 我们投降。
  We surrender.
• 你投给谁？
  Who are you voting for?
• 我投肯一票。
  I voted for Ken.
• 我们要投票。
  We want to vote.
• 投票给汤姆。
  Vote for Tom.

Words starting with 投

• 投资tóu zīinvestment; to invest
• 投票tóu piàoto vote; to cast a vote
• 投降tóu xiángto surrender
• 投机tóu jīcongenial; agreeable; to speculate; to profiteer
• 投掷tóu zhìto throw sth a long distance; to hurl; to throw at
• 投入tóu rùto throw into; to put into; to throw oneself into
• 投诉tóu sùto lodge a complaint
• 投资者tóu zī zhěinvestor
• 投稿tóu gǎoto submit articles for publication; to contribute (writing)
• 投身tóu shēnto throw oneself into sth
• 投放tóu fàngto input; to throw in; to unload
• 投资人tóu zī réninvestor
• 投影tóu yǐngto project; a projection
• 投奔tóu bènto seek shelter; to seek asylum
• 投递tóu dìto deliver
• 投标tóu biāoto bid; to make a tender
• 投产tóu chǎnto put into production; to put into operation
• 投射tóu shèto throw (a projectile); to cast (light)
• 投胎tóu tāito be reincarnated
• 投靠tóu kàoto rely on help from sb
• 投篮tóu lán(basketball) to shoot for the basket
• 投影机tóu yǐng jīprojector
• 投保tóu bǎoto take out insurance; to insure
• 投注tóu zhùto throw one's energies (into an activity); to invest one's emotions (in sth); to bet

Words containing 投

• 招投标zhāo tóu biāobid inviting and bid offering; bidding; auction
• 走投无路zǒu tóu wú lùto be at an impasse (idiom); in a tight spot; at the end of one's rope
• 五体投地wǔ tǐ tóu dìto prostrate oneself in admiration (idiom); to adulate sb
• 举手投足jǔ shǒu tóu zúone's every movement (idiom); comportment; gestures
• 相投xiāng tóuto share common interests or views; to get along well; congenial
• 公投gōng tóureferendum (abbr. for 公民投票
• 南投Nán tóuNantou city and county in central Taiwan
• 空投kōng tóuto airdrop
• 创投chuàng tóuventure capital investment (abbr. for 创业投资
• 亚投行Yà Tóu hángAsian Infrastructure Investment Bank, abbr. for 亚洲基础设施投资银行
• 南投市Nán tóu shìNantou city in central Taiwan, capital of Nantou county
• 正投影zhèng tóu yǐngorthogonal projection
• 布局投手bù jú tóu shǒu(baseball) setup man; setup pitcher
• 先发投手xiān fā tóu shǒu(baseball) starting pitcher
• 全情投入quán qíng tóu rùto put one's heart and soul into
• 全民投票quán mín tóu piàoreferendum; plebiscite
• 公民投票gōng mín tóu piàoplebiscite; referendum
• 外来投资wài lái tóu zīforeign investment
• 天使投资tiān shǐ tóu zīangel investment
• 情投意合qíng tóu yì hé(idiom) to have an affinity with each other; to find each other congenial
• 意气相投yì qì xiāng tóucongenial
• 提前投票tí qián tóu piàoearly vote
• 正式投票zhèng shì tóu piàoformal vote
• 现场投注xiàn chǎng tóu zhùlive betting

Characters built on 殳

These share the phonetic component 殳 (shū), which is why their readings rhyme. Learning them as a family is far cheaper than learning them one at a time.

• 殴ōuto beat up; to hit sb
• 骰tóudice
• 彀gòuto draw a bow to the full; the range of a bow and arrow; old variant of 够

Characters that look like 投

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

• 没méi(negative prefix for verbs) have not; not
• 技jìskill
• 股gǔthigh; part of a whole; portion of a sum; (finance) stock; share
• 役yìforced labor; corvée; obligatory task
• 驶shǐ(of a vehicle, horse etc) to go fast; to speed; (of a vehicle) to run; to go…
• 拢lǒngto gather together; to collect; to approach; to draw near to; to add; to sum up

Sounds the same

Read tóu, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 头head; hair style; the top
• 骰dice
• 亠"lid" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 8)
• 牏short board; plank

Go deeper

• Every HSK 5 word, with the rest of its level.
• How characters are built from components.
• How to learn Chinese characters.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read tóu correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.