坑 (kēng): pit; hole; hollow

Meanings

1 pit; hole; hollow
2 to cheat; to swindle (verb)
3 to trap; to set someone up (verb)

Characters

坑

keng

pit; hole; to cheat

Examples

路上有一个大坑，小心！

Lùshàng yǒu yígè dà kēng, xiǎoxīn!

There's a big pothole on the road, watch out!

别坑我！

Bié kēng wǒ!

Don't rip me off!

这个卖家真坑人。

Zhège màijiā zhēn kēngrén.

This seller really cheats people.

Tips

usage

Online, 入坑 (rùkēng, 'fall into a pit') means getting hooked on a new hobby or fandom. 挖坑 (wākēng, 'dig a pit') means starting a story/project you'll never finish. 坑爹 (kēngdiē) is slang for 'what a rip-off!'

Components

radical

土 tǔ

earth; soil

Earth radical — pits and trenches are dug into the soil, so 坑 sits in the earth-radical family alongside 地 ground, 城 city-wall, 坡 slope, 埋 bury. The radical carries the literal-physical meaning while 亢 supplies the sound.

phonetic

亢 kàng

high; haughty; throat

Phonetic — 亢 kàng, 坑 kēng: same syllable family with a slight vowel/tone shift. Same phonetic recurs in 抗 resist, 炕 heated bed, 杭 (place name Hángzhōu). The 亢 originally pictured a person with a constricted throat, but in 坑 it functions purely as a sound element.