撬 (qiào): to pry open

Meanings

1 to pry open
2 to lever
3 to prize open

Characters

撬

qiào

pry; lever

Examples

HSK 5

小偷撬开了门锁。

Xiǎotōu qiào kāi le ménsuǒ.

The thief pried open the door lock.

HSK 7-9

他用撬棍撬开了箱子。

Tā yòng qiàogùn qiào kāi le xiāngzi.

He used a crowbar to pry open the box.

Tips

memory

The hand radical 扌 shows it's a hand action. Think of using your hand to lever something open. 撬棍 = crowbar.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (left-side radical form of 手)

Left 扌 is the hand radical, side-form of 手 - three strokes for the wrist and fingers gripping outward. Marks 撬 as a manual action with a tool: prying with a lever held in the hand. Same hand-action family: 推 push, 拉 pull, 提 lift, 挖 dig, 拍 strike. The radical immediately signals direct physical effort.

phonetic

毳 cuì

fine fluffy hair (here phonetic)

Right 毳 - three stacked 毛 hair glyphs - supplies the sound, drifting cuì → qiào in this phonetic series (also seen in 翘 to lift, 跷 to raise on tiptoe). Pure phonetic role; the fluffy-hair imagery contributes nothing. Meaning comes from the hand radical.