záo
verb HSK 7-9 #16,307

Meanings

  1. 1 to chisel
  2. 2 to bore
  3. 3 to dig

Examples

HSK 5
Tā zài bīng shàng záo le yígè dòng.
He chiseled a hole in the ice.
HSK 7-9
Gōngrén men zài shān shàng záo le yì tiáo suìdào.
The workers chiseled a tunnel through the mountain.

Tips

history
The idiom 凿壁偷光 - 'to chisel a hole in the wall to steal light' - describes a poor boy who studied by the light from his neighbor's house. It symbolizes diligent study despite hardship.

Components

radical
kǎn
open mouth; receptacle
(open container) wraps the bottom as the indexing radical - the receptacle that catches the chips. The image is of a chisel-stroke biting downward into a hollow, with debris collecting below. itself is a Kangxi radical for things that hold or enclose, used in , , .
semantic
zhuó
thick clump of grass; bushy
sits inside the bottom-open frame and is the working business of the character: a thick bristly cluster suggesting impact-marks left by a chisel hammering into wood or stone. Traditional paired this top with (metal) and (strike); the simplified form keeps just the action.

Stroke Order

záo