拱 (gǒng): to arch; to cup one's hands in…

Meanings

1 to arch; to cup one's hands in greeting
2 to push with the snout; to root around

Characters

拱

gǒng

to arch; to cup hands; arch

Examples

HSK 2

他拱了拱手表示感谢。

Tā gǒng le gǒngshǒu biǎoshì gǎnxiè.

He cupped his hands in greeting to show thanks.

HSK 3

小猪在地上拱来拱去。

Xiǎo zhū zài dìshang gǒng lái gǒng qù.

The piglet was rooting around on the ground.

HSK 3

公园里有一座石拱桥。

Gōngyuán lǐ yǒu yī zuò shí gǒngqiáo.

There's a stone arch bridge in the park.

Tips

culture

拱手 (gǒngshǒu, cupping hands together and bowing slightly) is the traditional Chinese greeting gesture - the left hand covers the right fist. It saw a major revival during COVID as a hygienic alternative to handshakes.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (radical form of 手)

Left hand radical (side-form of 手) - the indexing radical, marking 拱 as a hand action. Anchors the entry in the manual-verb family alongside 打 hit, 拉 pull, 推 push, 抱 hold. Especially relevant since 拱手 'cup the hands in greeting' is the signature use.

phonetic

共 gòng

together (here phonetic)

Right 共 supplies the sound gòng → gǒng with a tone shift. 共 itself depicts two hands offering something jointly - so it doubles up nicely with 扌 to picture two hands brought together. That image grounds the meaning of 拱手 (cupped hands greeting) and 拱门 (arched gateway): both involve curved, joined shapes.