敲 (qiāo): to knock; to tap; to strike

Meanings

1 to knock; to tap; to strike
2 to extort (colloquial)

Characters

敲

qiāo

to knock; to tap; to strike

Examples

HSK 1

他敲了敲桌子。

Tā qiāo le qiāo zhuōzi.

He tapped on the table.

HSK 2

有人在敲门。

Yǒurén zài qiāo mén.

Someone is knocking on the door.

HSK 7-9

程序员每天都在敲代码。

Chéngxùyuán měitiān dōu zài qiāo dàimǎ.

Programmers type code every day.

Tips

usage

敲代码 = to type/write code - very common Chinese programmer slang, literally 'knocking out code.' Also: 敲键盘 = to type on a keyboard.

usage

敲竹杠 = to rip off / to extort - an idiom for overcharging someone.

Components

radical

攴 pū

to strike; tap

Right strike radical (Kangxi #66) - the indexing radical, depicting a hand holding a stick raised to strike. Anchors the meaning: 敲 is to knock, rap, tap (敲门 knock on the door, 敲打 to beat). The variant 攵 (4 dots truncated) appears in 教, 改, 政; 攴 itself is a less common full form.

phonetic

高 gāo

tall; high

Left phonetic 高 (gāo) - supplies the sound, shifting to qiāo through the velar series. Standalone 高 means 'tall, high' and pictographically depicts a tall watchtower. Same phonetic in 稿 (gǎo manuscript), 搞 (gǎo do/handle), 蒿 (hāo wormwood). Recognising 高 on the left cues the gāo/qiāo cluster.