kuò
verb HSK 7-9 #22,973

Meanings

  1. 1 to enlarge
  2. 2 to expand

Examples

Gōngsī zài kuòdà guīmó.
The company is expanding in scale.
Wǒmen xūyào kuòzhǎn yèwù.
We need to expand our business.

Tips

usage
Common in 扩大 (kuòdà, to enlarge) and 扩展 (kuòzhǎn, to expand).

Components

radical
shǒu
hand (radical form of 手)
Three-stroke hand radical on the left, side form of . means to enlarge, expand, or widen — an action performed by reaching out and pushing the boundary further. The radical anchors alongside to pull, to push, to grasp, to lift.
phonetic
广 guǎng
wide; broad (here phonetic and semantic)
Right side 广 supplies the sound — guǎng shifting to kuò through a regular g/k alternation. 广 also pulls double duty: it depicts a roof spreading wide and means broad. Hand plus broad equals to widen. is the simplified form of , where was full-form on the right.

Stroke Order

kuò