verb HSK 6 #3,037

Meanings

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

Examples

Bǎohù huánjìng hěn zhòngyào.
Protecting the environment is very important.
Hùshi hěn xīnkǔ.
Nurses work very hard.
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