抠

摳
kōu
#4,092 most
frequent character
. to cut, to carve, to dig out
verb
adjective

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

抠 has 扌 hand as its meaning part and 区 qū for sound. It first meant to raise or lift. The sense then grew to dig out, pick out with fingers, and stingy. The sound link is not clear in Mandarin.

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Example Sentences

他在抠墙上的洞。
tāzài kōu qiáng shàng de dòng 。
He is digging a hole in the wall.
她太抠了，舍不得花钱。
tā tài kōu le ， shěbùdé huāqián 。
She is too stingy; she won't spend money.
我需要抠出这个形状。
wǒ xūyào kōuchū zhègè xíngzhuàng 。
I need to carve out this shape.

Words with similar meanings

挖wā
to dig
More specific to digging into the ground or material.
削xiāo
to carve
Focuses more on shaping or removing material to form something.
小气xiǎoqì
stingy
A colloquial way to express being unwilling to spend money.

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