Dictionary › 掏

掏

tāo

Old HSK 6 HSK 3.0 character level 6 Character

掏 (tāo) means "to fish out (from pocket)". It is an HSK 3.0 level 6 word, and was HSK 6 in the old six-level list.

What 掏 means

1. to fish out (from pocket)
2. to scoop

Other readings

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

• tāovariant of {掏|tāo}

Example sentences

• 汤姆掏钱结帐。
  Tom took out his wallet and paid the bill.
• 汤姆掏出钥匙开了门。
  Tāngmǔ tāochū yàoshi kāi le mén.
  Tom took out his key and opened the door.
• 男子从口袋中掏出枪，吓了我一跳。
  Nánzǐ cóng kǒudài zhōng tāochū qiāng, xià le wǒ yī tiào.
  To my horror, the man took a gun out of his pocket.
• 修女从黑色裙子的褶皱间掏出剪刀，熟练地将彩色纸剪成长而窄的纸条，让我们可以把这些纸条编成纸地毯。
  From between the pleats of her black skirt, the nun brought out scissors and deftly cut coloured paper into long, narrow strips, which we could then braid into a paper rug.

Words starting with 掏

• 掏出tāo chūto fish out; to take out (from a pocket, bag etc)
• 掏钱tāo qiánto pay; to spend money; to fork out
• 掏空tāo kōngto hollow out; to empty out; to use up
• 掏腰包tāo yāo bāoto dip into one's pocket; to pay out of pocket; to foot the bill
• 掏包tāo bāoto pick pockets
• 掏耳tāo ěrto remove earwax with an ear pick
• 掏心掏肺tāo xīn tāo fèito be totally devoted (to a person)
• 掏耳勺tāo ěr sháoear pick

Words containing 掏

• 自掏腰包zì tāo yāo bāoto pay out of one's own pocket; to dig into one's pocket

Characters built on 匋

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

• 萄táoused in 葡萄
• 陶táopottery; pleased
• 淘táoto wash (rice, sand etc in water to remove impurities); to dredge…
• 啕táo(bound form) to wail

Characters that look like 掏

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

• 插chāto insert; stick in; pierce
• 搁gēto place; to put aside; to shelve
• 痫xiánepilepsy; insanity
• 揣chuāito put into (one's pockets, clothes); Taiwan pr. chuǎi
• 捶chuíto beat (with a stick or one's fist); to thump; to pound
• 捻niǎnto twirl (in the fingers)

Sounds the same

Read tāo, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 涛big wave; Taiwan pr. táo
• 滔(bound form) to inundate; deluge; torrent
• 叨to receive the benefit of
• 韬bow case or scabbard; to hide; military strategy
• 绦braid; cord; sash
• 饕(literary) greedy; gluttonous
• 弢bow case; to cover
• 縚braid; cord; sash
• 慆rejoice
• 焘used in given names

Where 掏 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of HSK 6 Vocabulary · tài–tāo (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.
• How characters are built from components.
• How to learn Chinese characters.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read tāo correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.