兜 (dōu): pocket; pouch

Meanings

1 pocket; pouch
2 to wrap up; to carry in a bag
3 to go around; to circle

Characters

兜

dōu

pocket; to wrap up; to solicit

Examples

HSK 2

出了问题我兜着。

Chū le wèntí wǒ dōu zhe.

If there's a problem, I'll take care of it.

HSK 4

我们在街上兜了一圈。

Wǒmen zài jiēshàng dōu le yì quān.

We went for a stroll around the streets.

HSK 5

他把手伸进兜里。

Tā bǎ shǒu shēnjìn dōu lǐ.

He put his hand into his pocket.

Tips

usage

兜 is very versatile in colloquial Chinese. 兜风 means 'to go for a drive/ride,' 兜圈子 means 'to beat around the bush,' and 兜底 means 'to serve as a safety net.' The core idea is always wrapping/catching/going around.

Components

radical

儿 ér

person; legs

Bottom indexing 儿 radical - the bent-leg figure of a person seen from behind. Supplies the body/wearer beneath the helmet above. Same family of 'person-bottom' chars: 兄 (elder brother), 先 (first), 光 (light), 元 (origin) - all built on a 儿 base showing a standing or walking figure.

semantic

兜 dōu

helmet/hood graph (fused upper portion)

Upper fused portion - a war helmet or hood (兜鍪) with corner curls wrapping around an inner 白-like face-opening. No clean standalone CJK form, so it stays as one unit. From 'helmet covering the head' the meaning broadened to any pouch wrapping around something - pockets, scoops, going around (兜风 to drive around).