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

他拱了拱手表示感谢。

Tā gǒng le gǒngshǒu biǎoshì gǎnxiè.

He cupped his hands in greeting to show thanks.

小猪在地上拱来拱去。

Xiǎo zhū zài dìshàng gǒng lái gǒng qù.

The piglet was rooting around on the ground.

公园里有一座石拱桥。

Gōngyuán lǐ yǒu yī zuò shí gǒng qiáo.

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.