托 (tuō): to hold up; to support (with th…

Meanings

1 to hold up; to support (with the palm)
2 to entrust; to ask someone to do something
3 to use as a pretext

Characters

托

tuō

to hold up; to entrust

Examples

HSK 1

我托朋友帮忙买了票。

Wǒ tuō péngyou bāngmáng mǎi le piào.

I asked a friend to help buy tickets.

HSK 4

服务员托着一个大托盘。

Fúwùyuán tuō zhe yī gè dà tuōpán.

The waiter was carrying a large tray.

HSK 5

她用手托着下巴。

Tā yòng shǒu tuō zhe xiàba.

She rested her chin on her hand.

Tips

usage

托人 means 'to ask someone (to do a favor).' 拜托 means 'please' (a request for help). 托盘 is a tray. 托儿所 is a nursery/daycare.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (left-side form of 手)

Left-side 扌 is the hand radical, the three-stroke compressed form of 手. It indexes 托 in the family of hand-action chars - supporting from below, holding up a tray, entrusting something to a hand. Same family as 抱, 持, 抬, 推 - verbs of carrying or bearing.

phonetic

乇 tuō

leaf-stem; stalk

Right-side 乇 supplies the sound (tuō → tuō, identical) and depicts a hanging leaf-stem drooping under weight. The image of something hanging that needs support faintly resonates with 托's 'hold up from below' meaning. Same phonetic in 拓 and 宅.