跷 (qiāo): to raise one's foot; to stand o…

Meanings

1 to raise one's foot; to stand on tiptoe
2 stilts

Characters

跷

qiāo

to raise foot; to tiptoe; stilts

Examples

她跷着脚尖才能够到那个架子。

Tā qiāo zhe jiǎojiān cáinéng gòu dào nàge jiàzi.

She had to stand on her tiptoes to reach that shelf.

孩子们踩着高跷在台上表演。

Háizimen cǎi zhe gāoqiāo zài tái shàng biǎoyǎn.

The children performed on stage walking on stilts.

Tips

usage

跷 alone means to raise or tiptoe. In compounds: 高跷 (stilts), 跷跷板 (seesaw), 跷课 (to skip class).

Components

radical

足 zú

foot; leg

Foot radical on the left — depicts a knee above a foot, originally signalling the whole leg. Carries the meaning of 跷: to lift the foot, stand on tiptoe, or prop one leg over the other. Sits with 跑 run, 跳 jump, 跟 follow, 踢 kick — the full vocabulary of leg-led action.

phonetic

尧 yáo

tall; lofty (here phonetic)

Right side 尧 supplies the sound — yáo shifting to qiāo, a documented y/q palatal alternation in the same series as 浇 water-pour and 翘 lift-up. 尧 also means 'high', which faintly reinforces the meaning: lifting a foot up high. Same phonetic in 烧 burn, 晓 dawn, 绕 wind-around.