扎 meaning in English

zhā

to prick; to run or stick (a needle etc) into

HSK 6verbTraditional 扎|紮4 strokes

Meaning of 扎

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

zhā

to prick
to run or stick (a needle etc) into
mug or jug used for serving beer (loanword from "jar")

zhā

(of troops) to be stationed (at)
Taiwan pr. [zha2]

zhā

variant of 紮|扎[zha1]

zā

to tie
to bind
classifier for flowers, banknotes etc: bundle
Taiwan pr. [zha2]

How to use 扎

As zhā, 扎 means to prick or stick something in, and it also appears in words about putting down roots or setting up camp, like 扎根 (zhāgēn) and 驻扎 (zhùzhā). As zā, it means to tie or bind, as in 包扎 (bāozā). Example: 我的手被针扎了。(Wǒ de shǒu bèi zhēn zhā le.) My hand was pricked by a needle.

扎 has the hand radical 扌 on the left, so picture a hand pushing something sharp in. The hook stroke on the right looks like a needle being stuck into cloth.

Common mistake: Learners often say 挣扎 with the first tone, but in this word it is read zhēngzhá with a second tone. Also, 扎 meaning to tie is read zā, so 包扎 is bāozā, not bāozhā.

扎 in example sentences

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

马mǎ克kè·扎zhā克kè伯bó格gé偷tōu了le我wǒ的de主zhǔ意yì！

Mark Zuckerberg stole my idea!

玛mǎ莉lì通tōng常cháng把bǎ长cháng发fà扎zhā成chéng双shuāng马mǎ尾yǐ。

Mary usually wears her long hair in pigtails.

你nǐ喜xǐ欢huān莫mò扎zhā特tè的de音yīn乐yuè吗ma？

Do you like Mozart's music?

我wǒ挣zhēng扎zhá着zhe挤jǐ出chū地dì铁tiě。

I struggled to get out of the subway.

汤tāng姆mǔ挣zhēng扎zhá着zhe站zhàn了le起qǐ来lái。

Tom struggled to his feet.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

扎 zhā · to prick · 4 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 扎.

扎实	zhāshi	strong; solid
挣扎	zhēngzhá	to struggle
包扎	bāozā	to wrap up; to pack
扎根	zhāgēn	to take root
驻扎	zhùzhā	to station; to garrison (troops)
扎营	zhāyíng	to camp; to pitch camp
垂死挣扎	chuísǐzhēngzhá	deathbed struggle; final struggle (idiom)

Questions about 扎

What does 扎 mean?

扎 (zhā) means "to prick; to run or stick (a needle etc) into" and is used as a verb.

How do you write 扎?

扎 is made of 1 character: 扎 (4 strokes). That is 4 strokes in total.

Is 扎 an HSK word?

Yes. 扎 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How is 扎 written in traditional Chinese?

In traditional characters, 扎 is written 扎|紮.

What does 扎实 mean and how is it pronounced?

扎实 (zhāshi) means solid or thorough, often used for skills or work, as in 基础很扎实 (jīchǔ hěn zhāshi), a solid foundation. The second syllable is usually said in the neutral tone.

Can 扎 be used as a measure word?

Yes. Read as zā, it counts bundles of things like flowers or banknotes, for example 一扎花 (yì zā huā), a bunch of flowers. In some places 扎 also refers to a beer jug, borrowed from the English word jar.