verb HSK 6 #3,037

Meanings

  1. 1 to protect; to guard
  2. 2 to shield

Examples

HSK 3
Bǎohù huánjìng hěn zhòngyào.
Protecting the environment is very important.
HSK 5
Hùshi hěn xīnkǔ.
Nurses work very hard.
HSK 7-9
Qǐng chūshì hùzhào.
Please show your passport.

Tips

usage
forms many protection-related words: 保护 (to protect), 护士 (nurse), 护照 (passport - lit. 'protection document'), 维护 (to maintain/defend), 爱护 (to cherish), 护理 (nursing/care).

Components

radical
shǒu
hand (radical form)
Left hand radical, the indexing component (variant of ). Marks as a hand-action character: shielding, guarding, escorting are things hands do. Same radical anchors (hug), (pull), (block), (snatch).
phonetic
door; household
Right-side supplies the sound, matching the parent's hù exactly with no tone shift. originally pictured a single-leaf door - in it doubles as a faint semantic hint (a hand at the door = guarding the household). Simplified from traditional where the phonetic was instead.

Stroke Order