桶 meaning and stroke order
Bucket; (trash) can; barrel (of oil etc)
How to write 桶, stroke by stroke
11 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 桶
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- bucket
- (trash) can
- barrel (of oil etc)
How 桶 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Wood.
木 gives the meaning and 甬 hints at the sound.
Radical: 木 (tree), shared by 388 characters on this site.
How to remember 桶
The wood radical 木 on the left shows that buckets and barrels were once made of wood. The right part 甬 (yǒng) gives the sound, so think of a wooden 木 container that sounds like yǒng, tǒng.
桶 is used for buckets, barrels, and bins of all kinds, and it often appears in compounds like 垃圾桶 (lājītǒng, trash can) and 马桶 (mǎtǒng, toilet). It also works as a measure word for things counted by the bucket or barrel. Example: 请把垃圾扔进垃圾桶。(Qǐng bǎ lājī rēng jìn lājītǒng.) Please throw the trash into the trash can.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 桶 (tǒng, bucket) with 筒 (tǒng, tube), which has the bamboo radical and the same sound. 桶 is a wide container like a pail, while 筒 is a long tube, as in 笔筒 (bǐtǒng, pen holder).
Common words with 桶
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
桶 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 桶
How many strokes are in 桶?
桶 is written with 11 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 桶 mean?
桶 (tǒng) means bucket; (trash) can; barrel (of oil etc). A common word with it is 马桶 (mǎtǒng), meaning "chamber pot; wooden pan used as toilet".
How do you pronounce 桶?
桶 is pronounced tǒng, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 桶?
The radical of 桶 is 木, which carries the idea of "tree". Dictionaries list 桶 under this radical.
Is 桶 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 桶 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Can 桶 be used as a measure word?
Yes. You can say 一桶水 (yì tǒng shuǐ, a bucket of water) or 一桶油 (yì tǒng yóu, a barrel of oil). It measures the amount that fills one bucket or barrel.
Why does 饭桶 mean an insult?
饭桶 (fàntǒng) literally means a rice tub. Figuratively it describes someone who eats a lot but is useless, like calling someone a good-for-nothing or a fathead.