戳

chuō
verb HSK 7-9 #4,617

Meanings

  1. 1 to poke; to jab; to stab
  2. 2 to stamp (a seal)

Examples

HSK 5
Bié ná shǒuzhǐ chuō wǒ!
Don't poke me with your finger!
HSK 5
Zhè jù huà chuō zhòng le tā de tòngchù.
That remark hit a sore spot.
HSK 6
Qǐng zài zhèlǐ chuō ge zhāng.
Please stamp a seal here.

Tips

usage
In internet slang, 戳 is used for clicking or tapping links: 戳这里 (click here). The figurative use 戳中 (to hit/strike, as in hitting a nerve or a funny bone) is very common online.

Components

radical
戈 gē
halberd; dagger-axe
Right radical 戈 (halberd) anchors 戳 in the family of weapon-strikes: poking, jabbing, stamping with force. The pictograph shows an ancient pole-weapon with a curved blade; from there it gives 戳 its meaning of poking sharply with a finger or thrusting a seal-stamp into ink. Same 戈 radical in 战 (war), 武 (martial), 戏 (play) - all weapon or combat acts.
phonetic
翟 dí
long-tailed pheasant
Left phonetic 翟 supplies the sound - dí shifted to chuō through onset and rime drift, a long-distance change typical of less-common phonetic-semantic compounds. 翟 itself depicts feathers 羽 above a 隹 short-tailed bird, picturing a long-tailed pheasant. As phonetic in 戳, the sound link is now opaque but historically grounded.

Stroke Order

戳 chuō