托 (tuō): to hold up; to support (with th…

Meanings

1 to hold up; to support (with the palm)
2 to entrust; to ask someone to do something
3 to use as a pretext

Characters

托

tuo

to hold up; to entrust

Examples

她用手托着下巴。

Tā yòng shǒu tuō zhe xiàba.

She rested her chin on her hand.

我托朋友帮忙买了票。

Wǒ tuō péngyou bāngmáng mǎi le piào.

I asked a friend to help buy tickets.

他托了很多人才找到这份工作。

Tā tuō le hěnduō réncái zhǎodào zhè fèn gōngzuò.

He asked many people for help before finding this job.

服务员托着一个大托盘。

Fúwùyuán tuō zhe yīgè dà tuōpán.

The waiter was carrying a large tray.

Tips

usage

托人 (tuō rén) means 'to ask someone (to do a favor).' 拜托 (bàituō) means 'please' (a request for help). 托盘 (tuōpán) is a tray. 托儿所 (tuōérsuǒ) is a nursery/daycare.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (left-side form of 手)

Left-side 扌 is the hand radical, the three-stroke compressed form of 手. It indexes 托 in the family of hand-action chars — supporting from below, holding up a tray, entrusting something to a hand. Same family as 抱, 持, 抬, 推 — verbs of carrying or bearing.

phonetic

乇 tuō

leaf-stem; stalk

Right-side 乇 supplies the sound (tuō → tuō, identical) and depicts a hanging leaf-stem drooping under weight. The image of something hanging that needs support faintly resonates with 托's 'hold up from below' meaning. Same phonetic in 拓 (tuò) and 宅 (zhái).