Meaning of 刮
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to scrape
- to blow
- to shave
- to plunder
- to extort
- to blow (of the wind)
How to use 刮
刮 (guā) is used for scraping with a blade, shaving, and very commonly for wind blowing. Weather talk uses 刮风 (guā fēng) all the time. Example: 今天外面刮大风。 (Jīntiān wàimiàn guā dà fēng.) It is very windy outside today.
刮 has the knife radical 刂 on the right, so think of a blade scraping something. The left part 舌 looks like 'tongue', so picture a knife scraping across a surface like a tongue licking it clean.
Common mistake: Learners often say 吹风 (chuī fēng) to mean 'it is windy', but 吹风 usually means to be in a draft or to blow-dry hair. For weather, say 刮风 (guā fēng). Also do not confuse 刮 with 括 (kuò), which has the hand radical 扌 instead of the knife 刂.
刮 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
刮 guā · to scrape · 8 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Related words
Words that share a character with 刮.
| 刮风 | guā fēng | to be windy |
| 刮胡子 | guāhúzi | to shave (facial hair) |
| 刮目相看 | guāmùxiāngkàn | to have a whole new level of respect for sb or sth; to sit up and take notice (of sb's imp |
| 刮掉 | guādiào | to scrape off; to shave off (whiskers etc) |
| 搜刮 | sōuguā | to rake in (money); to plunder; to milk people dry |
| 刮伤 | guāshāng | scratch (wound); scratch (damage to an object) |
Questions about 刮
What does 刮 mean?
刮 (guā) means "to scrape; to blow" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 刮?
刮 is made of 1 character: 刮 (8 strokes). That is 8 strokes in total.
Is 刮 an HSK word?
Yes. 刮 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 刮 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 刮 is written 刮|颳.
How do you say 'shave' in Chinese using 刮?
Say 刮胡子 (guā húzi), literally 'scrape the beard'. To say you shaved something off, use 刮掉 (guādiào).
What does 刮目相看 mean and when is it used?
刮目相看 (guāmù xiāngkàn) means to see someone in a new light because they have improved or surprised you. It is usually said as praise, for example when someone's skills have grown a lot.