哨 meaning and stroke order
To whistle; to chirp
How to write 哨, stroke by stroke
10 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 哨
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- a whistle
- sentry
How 哨 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Mouth.
口 gives the meaning and 肖 hints at the sound.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 哨
哨 combines 口 (mouth), the meaning part, with 肖 (xiào), which hints at the sound. Picture a mouth puffing out a sharp little whistle.
哨 rarely stands alone. It appears in words for whistles, like 哨子 (shàozi) and 口哨 (kǒushào), and in military words for guards and lookouts, like 哨兵 (shàobīng) and 放哨 (fàngshào). Example: 他在路上吹口哨。(Tā zài lù shang chuī kǒushào.) He whistles on the road.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 哨 with 消 (xiāo, to disappear) or 削 (xiāo, to peel) because they share 肖. Only 哨 has the mouth radical 口, and its tone is fourth tone shào, not first tone.
Common words with 哨
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
哨 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 哨
How many strokes are in 哨?
哨 is written with 10 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 哨 mean?
哨 (shào) means to whistle; to chirp. A common word with it is 口哨 (kǒushào), meaning "whistle".
How do you pronounce 哨?
哨 is pronounced shào, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 哨?
The radical of 哨 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 哨 under this radical.
Is 哨 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 哨 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why does 哨 mean both whistle and sentry?
Guards traditionally used whistles to signal, so the word extended from the whistle itself to the person or post keeping watch. You see this in 哨兵 (shàobīng, sentinel) and 岗哨 (gǎngshào, sentry post).
Does 花哨 mean something about whistles?
No. 花哨 (huāshao) means flashy, gaudy, or overly fancy, often for clothes or decoration. Note that 哨 is read in the neutral tone in this word.