dǎo
verb #20,556

Meanings

  1. 1 to tread on
  2. 2 to stamp

Examples

HSK 5
Tā cóngxiǎo jiù xǐhuan wǔdǎo.
She has loved dancing since she was a child.
HSK 7-9
Nà wèi gǔdài yìshì nìngyuàn dǎohǎi yě bù qūfú.
The ancient scholar chose to drown himself in the sea rather than submit.

Tips

usage
foot + to scoop - stamping feet rhythmically as in dance. Most common in the compound 舞蹈 (dance).

Components

radical
foot
Left-side foot radical - a leg with the foot drawn at the base. Carries the meaning: is a foot action - to stamp, tread, dance. Indexes the character in the foot family alongside to run, to jump, to step, to trample.
phonetic
yǎo
to scoop; ladle
Right side supplies the sound - yǎo drifting to dǎo along an old onset alternation. The 'scoop, ladle' meaning is not transferred; it is purely a sound tag here. Same phonetic appears in rice plant, to pinch - chars sharing the central mortar element.

Stroke Order

dǎo