槽 meaning and stroke order

cáo

Trough; manger; groove

HSK 7-9 15 strokes Radical 木

Strokes15

Pinyincáo

ToneTone 2

Frequency#2,655

Printable worksheet Practice all HSK 7-9 characters

How to write 槽, stroke by stroke

15 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.

Meaning of 槽

Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.

cáosecond tone (rising)

trough
manger
groove
channel
(Tw) (computing) hard drive

How 槽 is built

Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Wood.

mùtree+cáoministers

木 gives the meaning and 曹 hints at the sound.

Radical: 木 (tree), shared by 388 characters on this site.

How to remember 槽

槽 (cáo) is wood 木 on the left with 曹 (cáo) on the right giving the sound. Picture an old wooden trough where animals eat, and 曹 tells you how to say it.

槽 names long hollow containers or grooves, like a sink, a feeding trough, or a slot. Its most useful everyday word is 跳槽 (tiàocáo), literally jumping from one trough to another, meaning to change jobs. 他去年跳槽了。(Tā qùnián tiàocáo le.) He changed jobs last year.

Common mistake: Learners often confuse 槽 with 糟 (zāo, bad, messy), which has 米 instead of 木 and a different tone. Remember wood 木 for a trough, rice 米 for the leftover mash in 糟糕 (zāogāo).

Common words with 槽

Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning	Level
水槽	shuǐcáo	sink	HSK 7-9
跳槽	tiàocáo	to leave one's job to take up a position elsewhere	HSK 7-9
卧槽	wòcáo	(Internet slang) (substitute for 我肏[wo3 cao4]) fuck; WTF

槽 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

齐qí里lǐ需xū要yào小xiǎo苏sū打dá，用yòng来lái清qīng洁jié他tā的de厨chú房fáng水shuǐ槽cáo。

Ziri needs baking soda to clean his kitchen sink.

Tom把bǎ除chú了le厨chú房fáng水shuǐ槽cáo之zhī外wài的de所suǒ有yǒu东dōng西xī都dōu打dǎ包bāo了le。

Tom seems to have packed everything but the kitchen sink.

家jiā里lǐ的de洗xǐ碗wǎn机jī算suàn是shì厨chú房fáng水shuǐ槽cáo旁páng洗xǐ碗wǎn工gōng的de对duì手shǒu。

The washing-up machine at home was regarded as a rival to the worker at the kitchen sink.

惠huì子zi巧qiǎo妙miào地dì把bǎ碗wǎn碟dié迭dié起qǐ再zài拿ná到dào水shuǐ槽cáo。

Keiko deftly piles up the dishes and takes them to the sink.

当dāng我wǒ试shì着zhe把bǎ玻bō璃lí杯bēi放fàng进jìn水shuǐ槽cáo时shí，我wǒ的de手shǒu打dǎ了le滑huá，玻bō璃lí杯bēi打dǎ碎suì了le。

When I tried to set the glass down in the sink my hand slipped and it shattered to pieces.

Questions about 槽

How many strokes are in 槽?

槽 is written with 15 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.

What does 槽 mean?

槽 (cáo) means trough; manger; groove. A common word with it is 水槽 (shuǐcáo), meaning "sink".

How do you pronounce 槽?

槽 is pronounced cáo, in the second tone (rising).

What is the radical of 槽?

The radical of 槽 is 木, which carries the idea of "tree". Dictionaries list 槽 under this radical.

Is 槽 on the HSK exam?

Yes. 槽 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.

Is 卧槽 (wòcáo) okay to say?

No in polite settings. It is internet slang standing in for a vulgar swear word, similar to WTF. Use it only with close friends online, if at all.

What does 吐槽 (tǔcáo) mean?

吐槽 means to roast, complain about, or make fun of something, often in a joking way. It is very common in online and casual speech, for example 吐槽老板 (tǔcáo lǎobǎn), to complain about the boss.