Meaning of 捕
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to catch; to seize; to capture
How to use 捕
捕 rarely stands alone in everyday speech. It usually appears in compounds like 逮捕 (dàibǔ, to arrest), 捕捉 (bǔzhuō, to capture) and 捕猎 (bǔliè, to hunt). Example: 警察逮捕了小偷。(Jǐngchá dàibǔ le xiǎotōu.) The police arrested the thief.
捕 has the hand radical 扌 on the left and 甫 (fǔ) on the right, which hints at the sound. Picture a hand reaching out to grab something, and you have "to catch".
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 捕 (bǔ) with 铺 (pū, to spread) or 浦 (pǔ, riverside), which share the right side 甫 but have different radicals and sounds. Also remember the tone is third tone bǔ, not fourth tone bù like 不.
捕 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.
捕 bǔ · to catch · 10 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 捕.
| 逮捕 | dàibǔ | to arrest; to apprehend; to take into custody; Taiwan pr. [dai3bu3] |
| 被捕 | bèibǔ | to be arrested; under arrest |
| 捕捉 | bǔzhuō | to catch; to seize; to capture |
| 追捕 | zhuībǔ | to pursue; to be after |
| 拘捕 | jūbǔ | to arrest |
| 捕猎 | bǔliè | to catch (wild animals); to hunt |
| 捕获 | bǔhuò | to catch; to capture; to seize |
| 捕鱼 | bǔyú | to catch fish; to fish |
| 抓捕 | zhuābǔ | to seize; to capture |
| 搜捕 | sōubǔ | to hunt and arrest (fugitives); to track down and arrest |
| 捕食 | bǔshí | to prey on; to catch and feed on |
| 捕食者 | bǔshízhě | predator |
Questions about 捕
What does 捕 mean?
捕 (bǔ) means "to catch; to seize; to capture" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 捕?
捕 is made of 1 character: 捕 (10 strokes). That is 10 strokes in total.
Is 捕 an HSK word?
Yes. 捕 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 捕 and 抓?
抓 (zhuā) is the everyday spoken word for grabbing or catching, as in 抓鱼 (zhuā yú, catch fish). 捕 sounds more formal or written and mostly appears in set compounds like 逮捕 and 捕捉.
How do you say someone was arrested using 捕?
Use 被捕 (bèibǔ), meaning to be arrested. For example, 他昨天被捕了。(Tā zuótiān bèibǔ le.) He was arrested yesterday.