豁 (huō): to sacrifice; to go all out

Meanings

1 to sacrifice; to go all out
2 opening; crack; slit

Characters

豁

huō

to crack open; to sacrifice

Examples

碗上豁了一个口子。

Wǎn shàng huō le yīge kǒuzi.

There's a chip on the edge of the bowl.

为了孩子，她什么都豁得出去。

Wèile háizi, tā shénme dōu huō dechū qù.

For her children, she's willing to sacrifice anything.

Tips

mistakes

豁 has three pronunciations: huō (crack/sacrifice), huò (open-minded, as in 豁达), and huá (finger-guessing game). The meaning changes completely with each tone.

Components

radical

谷 gǔ

valley

Right 谷 — valley radical, picturing water flowing between two ridges. The opening between mountains gives the meaning: a wide gap, a slit, an opening. Hence 豁 means a clearing or break in something solid (豁口 a gap), and by extension 'to sacrifice, to go all out' — throwing oneself into the gap.

phonetic

害 hài

to harm (here phonetic)

Left 害 supplies the sound hài → huō through the same palatal-velar alternation seen in 辖 xiá and 瞎 xiā. Same phonetic series throughout. Pure sound contributor; no harming-meaning enters 豁, which is about opening up rather than damaging.