脱 (tuō): to take off; to remove (clothin…

Meanings

1 to take off; to remove (clothing)
2 to shed; to come off
3 to escape; to break free

Characters

脱

tuō

to take off (clothes); to shed; to escape

Examples

进门前请脱鞋。

Jìnmén qián qǐng tuō xié.

Please take off your shoes before entering.

天太热了，他脱了外套。

Tiān tài rè le, tā tuō le wàitào.

It was too hot, so he took off his jacket.

蛇会脱皮。

Shé huì tuōpí.

Snakes shed their skin.

Tips

usage

脱 is the opposite of 穿 (to put on). 穿上 = put on, 脱下 = take off. These are the core clothing verbs in Chinese.

grammar

脱 often pairs with 下 or 掉: 脱下衣服 (take off clothes), 脱掉鞋子 (take off shoes). Both patterns are correct.

Components

radical

⺼ ròu

flesh; meat (radical form)

Left flesh radical (⺼, compound-position form of 肉) — visually identical to 月 'moon' but historically a stylized cut of meat. In 脱 the original sense was 'meat coming away from bone', generalized to taking off clothing or separating from a covering. Same radical heads 胸, 脏, 背, 脚.

phonetic

兑 duì

to exchange; trigram (here phonetic)

Right 兑 supplies the sound (duì → tuō). 兑 is the I Ching trigram for marsh/joy and means 'to exchange'. The exchange imagery faintly fits — taking off clothing exchanges one state for another. Same phonetic in 说 (say), 锐 (sharp), 税 (tax).