Meaning of 爆
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to explode; to burst
- to stir-fry briefly; to quick-boil
How to use 爆
爆 rarely stands alone in formal writing. It usually appears in words like 爆炸 (bàozhà) and 爆发 (bàofā), or in cooking terms for quick, high-heat frying. Example: 汽车突然爆炸了。(Qìchē tūrán bàozhà le.) The car suddenly exploded.
爆 (bào) has fire 火 on the left and 暴 (bào) on the right, which gives the sound and means violent. Picture fire acting violently, and you get an explosion.
Common mistake: Learners often write 暴 (bào, violent) when they mean 爆. The two sound the same, but only 爆 has the fire radical 火, and it is the one used for explosions and bursting. Another slip is mixing up 爆发 (bàofā, to break out, like a war or an emotion) and 爆炸 (bàozhà, a physical explosion).
爆 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.
爆 bào · to explode · 19 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 爆.
| 爆炸 | bàozhà | explosion; to explode |
| 爆发 | bàofā | to break out; to erupt; to explode; to burst out |
| 爆满 | bàomǎn | filled to capacity (of theater, stadium, gymnasium etc) |
| 爆竹 | bàozhú | firecracker |
| 爆冷门 | bào lěngmén | an upset (esp. in sports); unexpected turn of events |
| 引爆 | yǐnbào | to ignite; to detonate |
| 打爆 | dǎbào | to blow out; to blow off |
| 爆米花 | bàomǐhuā | puffed rice; popcorn |
| 爆破 | bàopò | to blow up; to demolish (using explosives) |
| 火爆 | huǒbào | fiery (temper); popular |
| 爆裂 | bàoliè | to rupture; to burst |
| 爆头 | bàotóu | (neologism) (slang) (often used in video gaming) to shoot sb in the head; headshot |
Questions about 爆
What does 爆 mean?
爆 (bào) means "to explode; to burst; to stir-fry briefly; to quick-boil" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 爆?
爆 is made of 1 character: 爆 (19 strokes). That is 19 strokes in total.
Is 爆 an HSK word?
Yes. 爆 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 爆 mean in cooking, like 葱爆羊肉?
In cooking, 爆 means to stir-fry very quickly over very high heat, or to quick-boil. 葱爆羊肉 (cōng bào yángròu) is lamb flash-fried with scallions.
How is 爆 used in slang, such as 爆料 or 火爆?
爆料 (bàoliào) means to leak or reveal inside news. 火爆 (huǒbào) describes something extremely popular or lively, like a sold-out show. 爆满 (bàomǎn) works the same way and means a place is packed to capacity.