呕

嘔
ǒu
verb #11,342

Meanings

  1. 1 to vomit
  2. 2 to throw up

Examples

HSK 4
Tā wéndào nàge wèidao jiù xiǎng ǒu.
She felt like vomiting when she smelled that.
HSK 6
Tā yùnchē, ǒu le hǎojǐ cì.
He got carsick and threw up several times.

Tips

usage
呕 is often used in compounds: 呕吐 (to vomit, formal), 呕心沥血 (to pour out one's heart, idiom). On its own, 呕 is more colloquial than 呕吐.

Components

radical
口 kǒu
mouth
Left-side mouth radical - pictograph of an open mouth, the small square shape. The indexing radical, doing the obvious semantic work: 呕 is to vomit, to retch (呕吐). The mouth is where the action happens. Same family of mouth-sound-expulsion characters: 吐 to spit, 吼 to roar, 喊 to shout, 咳 to cough.
phonetic
区 qū
district; area
Right side 区 supplies the sound: qū to ǒu, an attested shift in the qū / ōu / kòu phonetic series. 区 depicts items stored within an enclosure (traditional 區 had three 口 inside - district, sector). Same phonetic family: 欧 Europe, 鸥 seagull, 殴 to beat, 驱 to drive. Recognising 区 unlocks the whole reading set.

Stroke Order

呕 ǒu