tóu
verb HSK 4 #1,233

Meanings

  1. 1 to throw
  2. 2 to cast
  3. 3 to invest
  4. 4 to submit

Examples

Bǎ qiú tóu guòlái.
Throw the ball over here.
Qǐng tóu yī piào.
Please cast a vote.
Tā tóu le yīge sānfēnqiú.
He shot a three-pointer.

Tips

usage
is versatile: 投票 (vote), 投资 (invest), 投诉 (complain), 投降 (surrender), 投篮 (shoot a basket). The core sense is throwing or directing something toward a target.

Components

radical
shǒu
hand (radical form)
Left hand radical — simplified 3-stroke form of . The indexing radical. Throwing, casting, and pitching are all hand actions, so the radical is literal. Same radical heads , , , — the family of hand-driven verbs.
semantic
shū
weapon-on-pole; club
Right — a hand below holding a forked weapon. Reinforces the throwing meaning: originally pictured a hand hurling a spear, two hand-shapes side by side emphasizing motion. Same component anchors , , , . The whole char is indexed under Kangxi #64 (shǒu, hand) — the on the left.

Stroke Order

tóu