liào
verb

Meanings

  1. 1 to kick backward (of a horse or mule); to buck
  2. 2 to throw a tantrum

Examples

HSK 6
可要尥蹶子
Nǐ zài bī tā, tā kěyào liào juězi le.
If you push him too hard he'll throw a tantrum.
HSK 7-9
Zhè pǐ wèi xùnfú de mǎ zǒng liào juězi.
The unbroken horse keeps bucking.

Tips

usage
Used almost exclusively in the compound 尥蹶子 - literally 'to throw out the hooves backward', the gesture of a stubborn horse, donkey or mule. By extension it means a person 'throwing a tantrum / kicking back' against authority. Vivid, colloquial, and slightly rural / northern in flavor.
memory
Picture the radical: is a person with bent legs. The phonetic (ladle) on the right gives the sound. Together: a bent-legged scoop of energy lashing out - a buck-kick.

Components

radical
yóu
bent leg; outstretched limb
Left (Kangxi #43) - bent leg radical. Anchors the meaning in the leg/limb action: kicking. Same radical drives (awkward) and (off-balance).
phonetic
sháo
ladle; scoop
Right (a small ladle) - phonetic. Its older reading was closer to liào than the modern Mandarin sháo; the same phonetic series gives and .

Stroke Order

liào