挂 meaning in English
to hang; to suspend (from a hook etc); to hang up (the phone)
Meaning of 挂
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to hang; to suspend (from a hook etc)
- to hang up (the phone)
- (of a line) to be dead
- to be worried; to be concerned
- (dialect) to make a phone call
- to register (at a hospital); to make an appointment (with a doctor)
- (slang) to kill; to die; to be finished; to fail (an exam)
- classifier for sets or clusters of objects
How to use 挂
挂 is used for hanging objects, hanging up the phone, and registering at a hospital, as in 挂号 (guàhào). In casual speech it can also mean to fail an exam or even to die. Example: 把衣服挂在门后。(Bǎ yīfu guà zài mén hòu.) Hang the clothes behind the door.
挂 has the hand radical 扌 on the left and 圭 (guī) on the right, which also hints at the sound. Picture a hand lifting something up onto a hook to hang it.
Common mistake: Learners often write the right side as 土 plus 土 without care, or confuse 挂 with 桂 (guì, osmanthus), which uses the tree radical 木 instead of the hand radical 扌. Also note that 挂 is fourth tone, while 圭 and 桂 are not.
挂 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.
挂 guà · to hang · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 挂.
| 挂念 | guàniàn | to feel anxious about; to have (sth) weighing on one's mind |
| 悬挂 | xuánguà | to suspend; to hang |
| 牵挂 | qiānguà | to worry about; to be concerned about |
| 挂钩 | guàgōu | to couple; to link; to hook together; (fig.) (preceded by 與|与[yu3] + {entity}) to establis |
| 挂号 | guàhào | to register (at a hospital etc); to send by registered mail |
| 挂失 | guàshī | to report the loss of something |
| 挂断 | guàduàn | to hang up (a phone) |
| 一丝不挂 | yīsībùguà | not wearing one thread (idiom); absolutely naked; without a stitch of clothing |
| 挂线 | guàxiàn | to hang up the phone |
| 倒挂 | dàoguà | lit. to hang upside down; fig. topsy-turvy and inequitable, e.g. manufacturing and trading |
Questions about 挂
What does 挂 mean?
挂 (guà) means "to hang; to suspend (from a hook etc); to hang up (the phone)" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 挂?
挂 is made of 1 character: 挂 (9 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.
Is 挂 an HSK word?
Yes. 挂 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 挂 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 挂 is written 掛.
How do you say hang up the phone in Chinese?
Say 挂电话 (guà diànhuà) or simply 挂了 (guà le). For example, 我先挂了 (wǒ xiān guà le) means I'll hang up now.
What does 挂科 mean for students?
挂科 (guàkē) is slang for failing a course or exam. You can also just say 我挂了 (wǒ guà le), and context tells people you failed rather than something worse.