挑

tiāo
#1,307 most
frequent character
lift up, raise, prick, incite
verb

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

挑 tiāo has 扌 hand as a meaning part and 兆 zhào as a sound part. Its first sense was 'to take'; from there it grew to 'to pick, choose' and 'to nitpick'. Read tiǎo, 'to poke, prick' was borrowed for its sound, and that grew to 'to provoke, incite'.

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Example Sentences

他挑起了重担。
tā tiāoqǐ le zhòngdàn 。
He took on a heavy burden.
请你挑选一些水果。
qǐng nǐ tiāoxuǎn yīxiē shuǐguǒ 。
Please choose some fruits.
她挑战了自己的极限。
tā tiǎozhàn le zìjǐ de jíxiàn 。
She challenged her own limits.

Same Characters, Different Readings

挑tiǎo
to raise, to dig up, to poke

Words with similar meanings

选择xuǎnzé
choose
More commonly used for selecting or picking from options.
提起tíqǐ
lift up
Focuses specifically on the action of lifting.

Words Starting With 挑

挑剔tiāo ti
picky; fussy

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