露 (lòu): to show; to reveal; to expose (…

Meanings

1 to show; to reveal; to expose (colloquial)
2 to betray; to give away (a secret)

Characters

露

lòu

to show; to reveal; to expose (colloquial)

Examples

别露出马脚。

Bié lòu chū mǎjiǎo.

Don't give yourself away.

他好几天没露面了。

Tā hǎojǐtiān méi lòumiàn le.

He hasn't shown his face for several days.

这孩子想露一手。

Zhè háizi xiǎng lòuyīshǒu.

The kid wants to show off his skills.

Tips

usage

Reach for lòu in spoken compounds about a person visibly showing themselves or accidentally exposing something: 露面 (show up), 露脸 (make an appearance / save face), 露馅 (spill the beans), 露一手 (show off skills), 露马脚 (give yourself away). Outside this short list, default to lù.

mistakes

Learners often say 暴露 as bàolòu — wrong. Formal compounds like 暴露, 揭露, 透露, 披露 all keep lù. The lòu reading is colloquial and shows up only in a handful of person-showing-themselves idioms.

Components

radical

雨 yǔ

rain

Top rain radical — the indexing radical and meaning anchor. Dew condenses overnight from atmospheric moisture, so the rain canopy fits. Many weather characters share this top: 雪 (snow), 雷 (thunder), 霜 (frost), 雾 (fog) — all moisture from the sky.

phonetic

路 lù

road; path

Bottom 路 gives an exact phonetic match for the lù reading. The imagery fits beautifully: dew on the road, the visible exposure along a path. The 13-stroke 路 sits unmodified beneath 雨, a clean compound with the phonetic carrying its full standalone shape.