葫 meaning and stroke order
Bottle-gourd
How to write 葫, stroke by stroke
12 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 葫
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- used in 葫蘆|葫芦[hu2 lu5]
How 葫 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Plant.
艹 gives the meaning and 胡 hints at the sound.
Radical: 艹 (grass), shared by 421 characters on this site.
How to remember 葫
The grass radical 艹 on top marks a plant, and 胡 (hú) underneath gives the sound. Picture a gourd vine growing over the word 胡, and you have 葫 (hú), the bottle gourd.
葫 almost never appears alone. It lives in the word 葫芦 (húlu), meaning a bottle gourd or calabash, and in some contexts a hoist. Example: 他卖的是什么葫芦药？ (Tā mài de shì shénme húlu yào?) What is he really up to?
Common mistake: Learners often drop the 艹 and write 胡 (hú) instead, since the sound is the same. Remember that 胡 alone means things like beard or reckless, while the gourd needs the plant radical on top.
Common words with 葫
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 葫芦 | húlu | calabash or bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria); hoist |
葫 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 葫
How many strokes are in 葫?
葫 is written with 12 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 葫 mean?
葫 (hú) means bottle-gourd. A common word with it is 葫芦 (húlu), meaning "calabash or bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria); hoist".
How do you pronounce 葫?
葫 is pronounced hú, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 葫?
The radical of 葫 is 艹, which carries the idea of "grass". Dictionaries list 葫 under this radical.
Why is 葫芦 pronounced húlu and not húlú?
In 葫芦 the second syllable is usually read in the neutral tone, so it sounds light and short: húlu. You may hear húlú in careful speech, but húlu is the everyday pronunciation.
What does the phrase 葫芦里卖的什么药 mean?
It literally asks what medicine is being sold inside the gourd, because gourds were traditionally used to hold medicine. People use it to ask what someone is secretly planning or up to.