掴 (guó): to slap (with the palm)

Meanings

1 to slap (with the palm)
2 to strike on the cheek

Characters

掴

guó

to slap; to strike the face

Examples

他怒不可遏，掴了对方一巴掌。

Tā nùbùkě'è, guó le duìfāng yī bāzhang.

Unable to contain his fury, he slapped the other person across the face.

她掴了他一记响亮的耳光。

Tā guó le tā yī jì xiǎngliàng de ěrguāng.

She gave him a loud slap across the face.

Tips

register

掴 is a more literary or classical verb for slapping. In everyday speech, 打耳光 (to slap someone's face) or 扇巴掌 are more common. 掴 appears frequently in formal writing and historical fiction.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (left radical form of 手)

Left hand radical, the side-form of 手 - three strokes condensed into the compressed standing-palm shape. The indexing element. Marks 掴 as a hand action: striking with the flat of the palm. Same family as 打 hit, 拍 slap, 摸 touch, 抓 grab, 抢 snatch - the entire hand-verb cluster.

phonetic

国 guó

country

Right 国 supplies the sound directly: guó. Pure phonetic - the right side picks 国 only for its sound. The traditional 摑 used 國 here; simplification followed suit. Almost always seen in 掴耳光 to slap across the face.