verb HSK 5 #3,550

Meanings

  1. 1 to hold; to grasp
  2. 2 to grip; to shake (hands)

Examples

Wòshǒu biǎoshì yǒuhǎo.
Shaking hands shows friendliness.
Yào bǎwò hǎo jīhuì.
You need to seize the opportunity.
Jǐnjǐn wòzhù bù fàng.
Hold tight and don't let go.

Tips

usage
is used in: 握手 (to shake hands), 把握 (to grasp/be confident), 掌握 (to master/grasp), 握住 (to hold onto). 掌握 is especially common — 'to master' a skill or language.

Components

radical
shǒu
hand (radical form)
Left hand radical — the side-form of . Anchors in physical grip: to grasp, hold, shake hands. Same radical in (grab), (take), (push), (hug). The semantic load is fully carried here; the right side is purely phonetic.
phonetic
house; room
Right supplies the sound — wū drifted to wò with tone shift. Same phonetic in (wò, rich) and (wò, dirty). The "house" meaning has no semantic role here; it is a pure sound carrier chosen for the wo- rhyme.

Stroke Order