露 (lòu): to show; to reveal; to expose (…

Meanings

1 to show; to reveal; to expose (colloquial)
2 to betray; to give away (a secret)

Characters

露

lòu

to show; to reveal; to expose (colloquial)

Examples

HSK 2

他好几天没露面了。

Tā hǎojǐtiān méi lòumiàn le.

He hasn't shown his face for several days.

HSK 3

别露出马脚。

Bié lòu chū mǎjiǎo.

Don't give yourself away.

HSK 7-9

这孩子想露一手。

Zhè háizi xiǎng lòuyīshǒu.

The kid wants to show off his skills.

Tips

usage

Reach for lòu in spoken compounds about a person visibly showing themselves or accidentally exposing something: 露面 (show up), 露脸 (make an appearance / save face), 露馅 (spill the beans), 露一手 (show off skills), 露马脚 (give yourself away). Outside this short list, default to lù.

mistakes

Learners often say 暴露 as bàolòu - wrong. Formal compounds like 暴露, 揭露, 透露, 披露 all keep lù. The lòu reading is colloquial and shows up only in a handful of person-showing-themselves idioms.

Components

radical

雨 yǔ

rain

Top rain radical - the indexing radical and meaning anchor. Dew condenses overnight from atmospheric moisture, so the rain canopy fits. Many weather characters share this top: 雪 (snow), 雷 (thunder), 霜 (frost), 雾 (fog) - all moisture from the sky.

phonetic

路 lù

road; path

Bottom 路 gives an exact phonetic match for the lù reading. The imagery fits beautifully: dew on the road, the visible exposure along a path. The 13-stroke 路 sits unmodified beneath 雨, a clean compound with the phonetic carrying its full standalone shape.