叼 meaning and stroke order
To hold with one's mouth (as a smoker with a cigarette or a dog with a bone)
How to write 叼, stroke by stroke
5 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
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- 5
Meaning of 叼
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to hold with one's mouth (as a smoker with a cigarette or a dog with a bone)
How 叼 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Mouth.
口 gives the meaning and 刁 hints at the sound.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 叼
The mouth 口 on the left tells you the meaning, and 刁 (diāo) on the right gives the sound. Picture a mouth gripping something, like a dog holding a bone.
叼 describes holding something between the lips or teeth without using the hands, often for animals carrying food or people with a cigarette. Example: 小狗叼着一根骨头。(Xiǎo gǒu diāo zhe yì gēn gǔtou.) The puppy is holding a bone in its mouth.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 叼 with 刁 (diāo, sly or tricky), which sounds the same but has no 口 radical. Also do not mix it up with 吃 (chī), since 叼 means holding in the mouth, not eating.
叼 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 叼
How many strokes are in 叼?
叼 is written with 5 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 叼 mean?
叼 (diāo) means to hold with one's mouth (as a smoker with a cigarette or a dog with a bone).
How do you pronounce 叼?
叼 is pronounced diāo, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 叼?
The radical of 叼 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 叼 under this radical.
Is 叼 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 叼 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 叼 often used with 着?
Yes, it usually appears as 叼着 (diāo zhe) to show an ongoing state, as in 嘴里叼着烟 (zuǐ lǐ diāo zhe yān), with a cigarette in the mouth.
Does 叼 have a slang meaning?
In casual internet slang, 叼 is sometimes used like 屌 (diǎo) to mean cool or awesome, but this is vulgar-adjacent and informal. In standard Chinese it simply means to hold in the mouth.