piáo
verb #18,623 vulgar

Meanings

  1. 1 to visit a prostitute
  2. 2 to solicit prostitution

Examples

HSK 7-9
Piáochāng shì wéifǎ de.
Soliciting prostitution is illegal.
HSK 7-9
Jǐngfāng dǎjī le yī gè piáochāng tuánhuǒ.
The police cracked down on a prostitution ring.

Tips

register
is crude and direct. The compound 嫖娼 is the standard legal/news term for soliciting prostitution. Both are considered vulgar in casual conversation.

Components

radical
woman; female
Left woman radical - pictograph of a kneeling figure with folded hands. Indexes in the female-related family with prostitute, brothel-woman, maidservant. names the act of paying for sex - a blunt classification baked into the script.
phonetic
piào
ticket; slip
Right side supplies the sound - piào shifted to piáo with a regular tone change. Same phonetic in to float, to flutter, gourd. Its 'light, fluttering' image quietly fits the transient nature of the transaction this names.

Stroke Order

piáo