窍

竅
qiào
noun #17,417

Meanings

  1. 1 hole; opening; orifice (of the human body)
  2. 2 key (to the solution of a problem)

Examples

HSK 3
Nǐ děi zhǎodào qiàomén cái xíng.
You need to find the knack to make it work.
HSK 4
Tā yíqiàobùtōng.
He doesn't understand a thing.

Tips

memory
七窍 refers to the 7 openings in the head: 2 eyes, 2 ears, 2 nostrils, 1 mouth. The idiom 一窍不通 means 'not even one opening is clear' - totally clueless.

Components

radical
穴 xué
cave; hole
Top cave radical - a roof shape above a stylized cavity, picturing a cave dwelling. The indexing radical, anchors 窍 in the family of opening/hole chars: 穿 pierce, 空 empty, 突 sudden, 窗 window, 究 investigate. Marks 窍 as an aperture - both literal body orifices and the figurative 'opening / knack' in 诀窍 know-how.
phonetic
巧 qiǎo
skillful; clever
Bottom 巧 supplies the sound - qiǎo shifting to qiào with tone change. Also adds a faint semantic flavor: a clever opening / a knack - fitting the modern figurative sense of 窍 (诀窍 is the key trick to doing something well). Same phonetic family: 朽 rotten, 杇 trowel. Simplified from traditional 竅, which had a much busier phonetic on the bottom.

Stroke Order

窍 qiào