揍

zòu
verb HSK 7-9 #2,082

Meanings

  1. 1 to beat up
  2. 2 to hit
  3. 3 to thrash

Examples

HSK 4
Tā bèi zòu le yī dùn.
He got beaten up.
HSK 6
Nǐ zài bù tīnghuà, wǒ jiù zòu nǐ!
If you keep misbehaving, I'll smack you!

Tips

register
揍 is colloquial and informal. It's used in everyday speech and implies hitting someone as punishment or in a fight.
grammar
Often used in the structure 揍了一顿 (gave a beating) or 被揍 (got beaten).

Components

radical
扌 shǒu
hand (radical)
Left radical 扌 is the side-form of 手 (hand), three strokes. Marks 揍 as a hand action - striking, hitting, beating up. Same radical drives the hand-verb family 打 (hit), 拍 (slap), 推 (push), 抓 (grab), 抗 (resist). Anything done with the fist or palm sits in this family.
phonetic
奏 zòu
to present; to perform (phonetic)
Right phonetic 奏 supplies the full sound zòu with no drift. 奏 itself means 'to present, to play music', but in 揍 it functions purely for sound. The pairing produces a colloquial 'thrash, smack' verb. Same phonetic 奏 also drives 凑 (to gather close) - the two characters are visually parallel and live in the same zòu/còu sound family.

Stroke Order

揍 zòu