kōu
verb HSK 7-9 #15,769

Meanings

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

Examples

Bié kōu bízi!
Don't pick your nose!
Tā tài kōu le, cóngláibù qǐngkè.
He's so stingy, he never treats anyone.
Tā zài kōu shǒujīké shàng de tiē zhǐ.
She's peeling the sticker off the phone case.

Tips

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

Components

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

Stroke Order

kōu