挠 (náo): to scratch (an itch)

Meanings

1 to scratch (an itch)
2 to hinder; to yield (literary)

Characters

挠

nao

to scratch; to yield

Examples

他挠了挠头，不知道怎么回答。

Tā náo le náotóu, bùzhī dào zěnme huídá.

He scratched his head, not knowing how to answer.

背上好痒，帮我挠一下。

Bèishàng hǎo yǎng, bāng wǒ náo yīxià.

My back is really itchy, scratch it for me.

Tips

usage

挠头 (scratch one's head) is used both literally and figuratively — 让人挠头 means 'that's a head-scratcher.' Also: 不屈不挠 (bùqū-bùnáo) = indomitable/unyielding — a common idiom where 挠 means 'to yield.'

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (radical form of 手)

Left hand radical — the side form of 手 compressed to three strokes. The indexing radical for 挠, which names a hand action: scratching an itch, or by extension scratching one's head in confusion, or disturbing someone. Sits alongside 抓, 抠, 摸 in the manual-contact family.

phonetic

尧 yáo

lofty; the sage-king Yao

Right 尧 supplies the sound yáo → náo through a regular initial shift. Pure phonetic; the legendary-emperor association has no bearing here. Same phonetic appears in 烧 (burn), 浇 (pour), 绕 (wind around) — a tight family sharing the -ao rhyme.