采

cǎi
#585 most
frequent character
to pick
verb

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

采 pictures a hand 爫 plucking leaves from a tree 木. That gave the first meaning, to pluck leaves from a tree. The sense widened to picking or gathering, and then to choosing or selecting.

Drawn as: hand plucking leaves; tree

采 as a component in other characters

meaning2 characters
菜睬
sound4 characters
彩菜踩睬

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Example Sentences

他在山上采蘑菇。
tāzài shānshàng cǎi mógū 。
He is picking mushrooms on the mountain.
我们去公园采花吧。
wǒmen qù gōngyuán cǎihuā bā 。
Let's go to the park to pick flowers.
她喜欢在秋天采苹果。
tā xǐhuān zài qiūtiān cǎi píngguǒ 。
She likes to pick apples in the autumn.

Same Characters, Different Readings

采cǎi
to pick
采cài
used in 采邑[cai4yi4] and 采地[cai4di4]

Words with similar meanings

摘zhāi
to pluck
A more specific term often used for picking fruits or flowers, implying a gentle action.
选xuǎn
to select
This word emphasizes the act of choosing rather than the physical action of picking.

Homophones

采cǎi
to pick
彩cǎi
(bright) color, variety, applause

Words Starting With 采

采取cǎi qǔ
"to adopt or carry out (measures, policies, course of action); to take"
采访cǎi fǎng
to interview; to gather news; to hunt for and collect; to cover
采纳cǎi nà
to accept; to adopt
采购cǎi gòu
to procure (for an enterprise etc); to purchase
采集cǎi jí
to gather; to collect; to harvest

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