Meaning of 炮
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- cannon
- firecracker
Measure word: 座
- variant of 炮[pao4]
- to sauté
- to fry
- to dry by heating
- to prepare herbal medicine by roasting or parching (in a pan)
How to use 炮
In everyday speech 炮 (pào) mostly appears in compounds like 鞭炮 (biānpào, firecrackers) and 大炮 (dàpào, cannon). It is also the cannon piece in Chinese chess. Example: 过年的时候大家放鞭炮。(Guònián de shíhou dàjiā fàng biānpào.) People set off firecrackers at New Year.
炮 combines 火 (fire) with 包 (bāo, to wrap). Picture gunpowder wrapped up tight until fire makes it burst, like a cannon or a firecracker.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 炮 with 跑 (pǎo, to run) and 泡 (pào, to soak). All three share 包, so check the radical: fire 火 for cannon, foot 足 for running, water 氵 for soaking.
炮 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.
炮 pào · cannon · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 炮.
| 鞭炮 | biānpào | firecrackers; string of small firecrackers |
| 马后炮 | mǎhòupào | (Chinese chess) moving the cannon after moving the horse away; (fig.) a useless action or |
| 大炮 | dàpào | big gun; cannon |
| 炮弹 | pàodàn | artillery shell |
| 炮火 | pàohuǒ | artillery barrage; gunfire |
| 火炮 | huǒpào | cannon; gun |
| 开炮 | kāipào | to open fire |
| 打炮 | dǎpào | to open fire with artillery; to set off firecrackers |
| 炮兵 | pàobīng | artillery soldier; gunner |
| 炮击 | pàojī | to shell; to bombard |
| 娘炮 | niángpào | (slang) effeminate man; sissy |
| 枪炮 | qiāngpào | firearm |
Questions about 炮
What does 炮 mean?
炮 (pào) means "cannon; firecracker" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 炮?
炮 is made of 1 character: 炮 (9 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.
Is 炮 an HSK word?
Yes. 炮 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 马后炮 mean when people say it?
马后炮 (mǎhòupào) comes from Chinese chess and describes advice or action that comes too late to help. You might say it about someone who explains what you should have done after the problem is over.
When is 炮 read bāo or páo instead of pào?
It is read bāo for a quick stir-fry cooking method, as in the dish 炮羊肉 (bāo yángròu, quick-fried lamb). It is read páo for roasting herbs in traditional medicine. For cannons and firecrackers, always use pào.