抠 (kōu) — (verb) to pick (with fingers), to dig out, to scratch; (verb) to carve, to cut (into a surface); (adjective) stingy, miserly
Definition
抠 covers three distinct senses: physical picking/digging with fingers (like 挠, but picking out rather than scratching), carving into a surface (less formal than 刻), and colloquial 'stingy' — weaker than 吝啬, similar in register to 小气.
verb
to pick (with fingers)to dig outto scratchto carveto cut (into a surface)
adjective
stingymiserly
Examples
- 抠。Tā bǎ qiáng shàng de dīng zi kōu le chū lái.He picked the nail out of the wall.
- 抠。Tā zài mù bǎn shàng kōu le yí gè huā wén.She carved a pattern on the wooden board.
- 抠，。Tā tài kōu le, lián yí kuài qián dōu bú yuàn yì huā.He is so stingy that he won't even spend one yuan.
Appears in
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