jiào / jiǎo
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 a frontier; a border
  2. 2 to patrol; to make a circuit

Examples

HSK 7-9
Shìbīng yánzhe biān jiào xúnluó.
Soldiers patrolled along the frontier.
HSK 7-9
戍兵西南边徼
Shùbīng zhù zài xīnán biānjiào.
Garrison troops were stationed at the southwestern border region.

Tips

history
Read it means a 'frontier / border' and, as a verb, 'to patrol a boundary'. The compound 边徼 ('frontier') appears in histories of border garrisons. Don't confuse it with the luck reading .

Components

radical
chì
step; to walk
The 'step' radical on the left ties the character to movement and going about, fitting both the 'patrol a boundary' and 'go after / seek' senses.
phonetic
jiǎo
to disperse; bright
fills the rest of the character and supplies the sound jiǎo / ; it is purely phonetic, carrying no meaning here.

Stroke Order

jiào