抠

摳
kōu
verb HSK 7-9 #15,769

Meanings

  1. 1 to dig out; to pick at
  2. 2 stingy; miserly

Examples

HSK 4
Bié kōu bízi!
Don't pick your nose!
HSK 4
Tā tài kōu le, cónglái bù qǐngkè.
He's so stingy, he never treats anyone.
HSK 7-9
Tā zài kōu shǒujī ké shàng de tiēzhǐ.
She's peeling the sticker off the phone case.

Tips

usage
抠门 is the go-to colloquial word for 'stingy/cheap.' It's stronger and more judgmental than 节约 (frugal). 抠细节 means to obsess over details - it can be positive (meticulous) or negative (nitpicky).

Components

radical
扌 shǒu
hand (left-side form)
扌 is the hand radical 手 in left-side form. It marks 抠 as a hand action, grouping it with 拉 (pull), 抓 (grab), and 挑 (pick) - here the fingertip motion of digging into a small space to scoop something out.
phonetic
区 qū
area; partition
区 supplies the reading, drifting from qū to kōu along an old velar pair. The same phonetic surfaces in 躯 (body), 驱 (drive), and 殴 (beat), and the partitioned-space sense fits the act of picking inside a confined nook.

Stroke Order

抠 kōu