kōu
verb HSK 7-9 #15,769

Meanings

  1. 1 to dig out; to pick at
  2. 2 stingy; miserly

Examples

HSK 3
Tā tài kōu le, cónglái bù qǐngkè.
He's so stingy, he never treats anyone.
HSK 5
Bié kōu bízi!
Don't pick your nose!
HSK 7-9
Tā zài kōu shǒujī ké shàng de tiēzhǐ.
She's peeling the sticker off the phone case.

Tips

usage
抠门 is the go-to colloquial word for 'stingy/cheap.' It's stronger and more judgmental than 节约 (frugal). 抠细节 means to obsess over details - it can be positive (meticulous) or negative (nitpicky).

Components

radical
shǒu
hand (left-side form)
is the hand radical in left-side form. It marks as a hand action, grouping it with (pull), (grab), and (pick) - here the fingertip motion of digging into a small space to scoop something out.
phonetic
area; partition
supplies the reading, drifting from qū to kōu along an old velar pair. The same phonetic surfaces in (body), (drive), and (beat), and the partitioned-space sense fits the act of picking inside a confined nook.

Stroke Order

kōu