Meaning of 泡
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- bubble; foam
- blister
- to soak; to steep; to infuse
- to dawdle; to loiter
- to pick up (a girl)
- to get off with (a sexual partner)
- classifier for occurrences of an action
- classifier for number of infusions
- puffed; swollen; spongy
- small lake (esp. in place names)
- classifier for urine or feces
How to use 泡
As a verb, 泡 (pào) means to soak or steep something in liquid, most often tea, instant noodles, or a bath. It is also used for bubbles and blisters, as in 泡沫 (pàomò) foam and 灯泡 (dēngpào) light bulb. Example: 我去泡一杯茶。(Wǒ qù pào yì bēi chá.) I'll go make a cup of tea.
泡 combines the water radical 氵 with 包 (bāo, to wrap). Picture water wrapping around a pocket of air, and you get a bubble, or something soaking while wrapped in water.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 泡 (pào) with 抱 (bào, to hug) and 跑 (pǎo, to run), which share the 包 part. Check the left side: water 氵 for soaking, hand 扌 for hugging, foot 足 for running.
泡 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.
泡 pào · bubble · 8 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 泡.
| 泡沫 | pàomò | foam; (soap) bubble |
| 灯泡 | dēngpào | light bulb; see also 電燈泡|电灯泡[dian4 deng1 pao4] |
| 气泡 | qìpào | bubble; blister (in metal) |
| 浸泡 | jìnpào | to steep; to soak |
| 泡妞 | pàoniū | to pick up girls; to play around with girls |
| 泡菜 | pàocài | pickled cabbage |
| 泡泡 | pàopao | bubbles |
| 泡汤 | pàotāng | (coll.) to fizzle out; to come to nothing; to dawdle; to stall |
| 泡茶 | pàochá | to make tea |
| 泡澡 | pàozǎo | to bathe; to immerse oneself in a warm bath |
| 水泡 | shuǐpào | bubble; blister |
| 电灯泡 | diàndēngpào | light bulb; (slang) unwanted third guest |
Questions about 泡
What does 泡 mean?
泡 (pào) means "bubble; foam; blister" and is used as a verb and noun.
How do you write 泡?
泡 is made of 1 character: 泡 (8 strokes). That is 8 strokes in total.
Is 泡 an HSK word?
Yes. 泡 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 泡 mean in slang like 泡妞 or 泡吧?
In casual speech 泡 can mean to spend a lot of time somewhere or with someone. 泡吧 (pàobā) means to hang out in bars, and 泡妞 (pàoniū) means to chase or pick up girls, which is informal and a bit cheeky.
When is 泡 read as pāo instead of pào?
The first tone pāo is used for things that are puffy or spongy, such as 眼泡 swelling under the eyes in some speech, for small lakes in place names, and as a measure word for urine or feces, as in 一泡尿 (yì pāo niào). In everyday use, pào is far more common.