kǎo
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 obstructed breath; the 'breath / sigh' component in characters

Examples

Tā shēn xī le yì kǒu qì, jìxù shuō.
He took a deep breath and continued speaking.

Tips

history
pictures breath that cannot rise freely and is not used as a standalone word today. It appears as a building element in (to test / examine), (skilful), and (number / to call out).
register
Archaic. You meet only inside other characters and in component breakdowns, never in speech.

Components

ideograph
kǎo
obstructed breath
An abstract figure of breath blocked on its way up — one horizontal then a bent rising stroke. A pure symbol, not decomposable into smaller parts.

Filed under radical (yī, #1) by convention. is not a separate component in , so no strokes are highlighted.

Stroke Order

kǎo