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抄 (chāo) — to copy, to transcribe; to plagiarize; to search and seize; to raid; to take a shortcut

Definition

In the 'raid / seize' sense, 抄 means police searching and seizing property — more about confiscation than grabbing a person (use 抓 or 捉 for catching someone). It also covers copying text and taking a shortcut.

verb
to copyto transcribeto plagiarizeto search and seizeto raidto take a shortcut
Easily confused

Examples

  • 抄。
    Tā chāo le yì piān kè wén.
    He copied a text.
  • 抄。
    Jǐng chá chāo le tā de jiā.
    The police raided his home.
  • 抄。
    Wǒ men chāo jìn lù zǒu ba.
    Let's take the shortcut.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
扌Written in full as手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
少
少shǎo抄chāo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

抄 combines 扌 (hand) with 少, which supplies the sound.

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 5Reading & Writing

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.