sào
verb #36,968

Meanings

  1. 1 to itch
  2. 2 (old) scabies

Examples

Pífū sàoyǎng kěnéng shì guòmǐn de zhèngzhuàng.
Itchy skin may be a symptom of allergies.
Wénzi yǎole zhīhòu fēicháng sàoyǎng.
It itches a lot after a mosquito bite.

Tips

usage
almost never appears alone in modern Chinese — it's bound to in 瘙痒 (sàoyǎng) 'to itch / itching'. In medical and dermatology contexts you'll also see 瘙痒 'pruritus'. Taiwanese pronunciation is sometimes [sāo].
memory
The (sickness) radical on the left signals all three meanings — is medical-itching, not casual scratching. Casual 'I want to scratch' uses (yǎng) on its own.

Stroke Order

sào