áo
verb #57,422

Meanings

  1. 1 (in 翱翔) to soar; to hover in flight

Examples

HSK 7-9
Xióngyīng zài liáokuò de tiānkōng zìyóu áoxiáng.
An eagle soars freely in the boundless sky.
HSK 7-9
Tā kěwàng xiàng niǎo yíyàng zài lántiān zhōng áoxiáng.
She longs to soar through the open sky like a bird.

Tips

usage
appears almost only in 翱翔 (to soar). Traditionally is flying with the wings beating, while is gliding with wings held still.

Components

radical
feathers; wings
Right side is the feather radical, picturing wings and tying to the act of flying.
phonetic
gāo
riverbank; marsh (here phonetic)
Left side is the phonetic element; the sound has drifted from gāo to áo, so read it as a sound hint rather than an exact match.

Stroke Order

áo