搂 (lōu): to draw toward oneself; to gath…

Meanings

1 to draw toward oneself; to gather up; to rake in
2 to gather up (one's gown or sleeves)
3 to grab (money); to extort

Characters

搂

lōu

to draw toward oneself; to gather up; to rake in

Examples

他把落叶搂成一堆。

Tā bǎ luòyè lōu chéng yì duī.

He raked the fallen leaves into one pile.

他一心想着搂钱。

Tā yì xīn xiǎngzhe lōuqián.

All he thinks about is raking in money.

Tips

usage

The first-tone lōu is a sweeping pull toward yourself: raking leaves or hay, hitching up a gown, and the figurative 搂钱 (to rake in money, often shadily). For the affectionate 'hug' use the lǒu reading.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand

扌 is the left-side form of 手 (hand). It marks 搂 as a hand-action verb and links it to a large family of grasping and holding chars like 抱, 拉, 抓.

phonetic

娄 lóu

drag; surname Lou

娄 supplies the sound, standalone lóu drifting to lǒu under the tone shift typical of derived verbs. The same phonetic appears in 楼 (building), 篓 (basket), 数, giving a useful sound family.