箍

gū
noun #13,464

Measure Word

一道箍 dào

Meanings

  1. 1 hoop; band; ring
  2. 2 to bind with hoops; to encircle

Examples

HSK 7-9
Mùtǒng shàng yǒu jǐ dào tiě gū.
There are several iron hoops on the wooden barrel.
HSK 7-9
Yòng shéngzi gū jǐn zhège bāoguǒ.
Bind this package tightly with rope.

Tips

culture
The most famous 箍 in Chinese culture is the 紧箍咒, the golden headband spell from Journey to the West that Monk Tang uses to control the Monkey King by tightening a hoop around his head.

Components

radical
⺮ zhú
bamboo (top radical form of 竹)
Top bamboo radical, two abbreviated leaves over short stems, the compressed cap form of 竹. The indexing radical. A 箍 is a hoop or band, originally split bamboo bent into a circle to bind a barrel or basket. Same bamboo-craft family: 篮 basket, 笼 cage, 筐 wicker basket, 筋 sinew.
phonetic
㧜 gū
bind; clasp (rare phonetic)
Bottom 㧜 is a rare CJK Extension-A graph surviving almost solely as the phonetic in 箍. Supplies the sound gū exactly and adds a literal semantic echo: 㧜 itself means 'to clasp / grip', exactly what a hoop does. Graphically a contracted hand-plus-square (a hand clamping), making 箍 a unified 'bamboo band that clasps'.

Stroke Order

箍 gū