啕 (táo): to wail

Meanings

1 to wail
2 to bawl loudly

Characters

啕

táo

to wail

Examples

HSK 7-9

听到噩耗，她嚎啕大哭起来。

Tīngdào èhào, tā háotáo dàkū qǐlái.

Hearing the bad news, she burst out wailing.

HSK 7-9

孩子号啕大哭，谁也哄不好。

Háizi háotáo dàkū, shuí yě hǒng bù hǎo.

The child was bawling so loudly that no one could comfort him.

Tips

usage

啕 is a bound character. It appears only in 嚎啕 (also written 号啕), meaning to cry loudly and uncontrollably, almost always followed by 大哭.

Components

radical

口 kǒu

mouth

The mouth radical, marking 啕 as a vocal sound. Here it is the sound of loud, broken weeping that comes pouring out of the mouth.

phonetic

匋 táo

pottery (phonetic)

Supplies the sound directly: 匋 táo gives 啕 its exact reading táo. The same phonetic sits inside 陶 (táo, pottery).

Stroke Order

啕 táo

Related Words

嚎啕大哭 háotáo-dàkū

to wail / to bawl / to cry loudly and bitterly

号啕大哭 háotáo-dàkū #44,541

to cry loudly; to wail / to weep uncontrollably; to bawl

嚎啕 háotáo #32,397

to wail / to cry loudly

号 háo #297

to roar / to cry loudly; to wail / to howl (of wind or animals)

大放悲声 dàfàng-bēishēng

to wail loudly and mournfully / to break into bitter weeping / to cry out in deep grief

干嚎 gānháo

to wail without tears / to fake-cry loudly / to howl tearlessly

大声 dàshēng HSK 2 #3,008

loudly / in a loud voice

嚎 háo #15,845

to howl / to bawl / to wail loudly

喝 hè #264

to shout; to cry out loudly / to acclaim; to cheer (bound, in compounds)

大喊大叫 dàhǎn-dàjiào #6,325

to shout and scream / to yell loudly / to make a big fuss