洞 meaning and stroke order
Cave; hole; zero (unambiguous spoken form when spelling out numbers)
How to write 洞, stroke by stroke
9 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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- 4
- 5
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- 8
- 9
Meaning of 洞
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- cave
- hole
- zero (unambiguous spoken form when spelling out numbers)
- used in 洪洞[Hong2 tong2] (the name of a place in Shanxi)
How 洞 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Water.
氵 gives the meaning and 同 hints at the sound.
Radical: 氵 (water), shared by 467 characters on this site.
How to remember 洞
Water 氵 plus 同 (tóng), which gives the sound. Picture water wearing away rock until it carves out a hole or cave, and remember that 同 (tóng) sounds close to 洞 (dòng).
洞 (dòng) means a hole or a cave, and it appears in many common words like 山洞 (shāndòng, cave) and 漏洞 (lòudòng, loophole or leak). Example: 我的袜子破了一个洞。(Wǒ de wàzi pò le yí gè dòng.) My sock has a hole in it.
Common mistake: Learners often read 洞 as tóng because of its sound part 同, but the everyday reading is dòng with a fourth tone. Also do not confuse it with 铜 (tóng, copper), which has the metal radical 钅 instead of water.
Common words with 洞
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 漏洞 | lòudòng | leak; hole | HSK 5 |
| 洞穴 | dòngxué | cave; cavern | |
| 黑洞 | hēidòng | (astronomy) black hole | |
| 山洞 | shāndòng | cavern; cave | |
| 空洞 | kōngdòng | cavity; empty | |
| 洞察力 | dòngchálì | insight | |
| 防空洞 | fángkōngdòng | air raid shelter; bomb shelter; (fig.) place that protects bad people; hideout | |
| 洞口 | Dòngkǒu | cave mouth; tunnel entrance | |
| 洞房 | dòngfáng | secret inner room; bridal room | |
| 挖洞 | wādòng | to dig a hole | |
| 洞察 | dòngchá | to see clearly | |
| 地洞 | dìdòng | tunnel; cave; burrow; dugout | |
| 钻洞 | zuāndòng | to bore; to burrow | |
| 洞悉 | dòngxī | to clearly understand |
洞 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 洞
How many strokes are in 洞?
洞 is written with 9 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 洞 mean?
洞 (dòng) means cave; hole; zero (unambiguous spoken form when spelling out numbers). A common word with it is 漏洞 (lòudòng), meaning "leak; hole".
How do you pronounce 洞?
洞 is pronounced dòng, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 洞?
The radical of 洞 is 氵, which carries the idea of "water". Dictionaries list 洞 under this radical.
Is 洞 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 洞 is part of the HSK 5 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why do Chinese people say dòng for the number zero?
When reading out numbers clearly, for example over a radio or in the military, 洞 (dòng) is used for zero because it is easy to hear. It works like 幺 (yāo) for one. In daily life most people still say 零 (líng).
When is 洞 pronounced tóng?
Only in the place name 洪洞 (Hóngtóng), a county in Shanxi province. In all other words it is read dòng.