Meaning of 爬
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to crawl
- to climb
- to get up or sit up
How to use 爬
爬 is used for crawling on the ground and for climbing things like mountains, stairs, or trees. It also shows up in words like 爬山 (pá shān) to go hiking and 爬行动物 (páxíng dòngwù) reptile. Example: 周末我们去爬山吧。(Zhōumò wǒmen qù pá shān ba.) Let's go hiking this weekend.
爬 (pá) has the claw part 爪 (zhǎo) on the left and 巴 (bā) on the right. Picture claws gripping as you crawl or climb, while 巴 hints at the sound.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes write the left side as 瓜 (guā) or forget that 爪 here sits on the left with its last stroke stretched under 巴. Also keep the second tone. Do not say pà, which sounds like 怕 (pà) to fear.
爬 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.
爬 pá · to crawl · 8 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 爬.
Questions about 爬
What does 爬 mean?
爬 (pá) means "to crawl; to climb" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 爬?
爬 is made of 1 character: 爬 (8 strokes). That is 8 strokes in total.
Is 爬 an HSK word?
Yes. 爬 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 爬 and 上 for climbing?
上 (shàng) just means to go up, as in 上楼 (shàng lóu) to go upstairs. 爬 stresses the effort of climbing, often using hands and feet, as in 爬楼梯 (pá lóutī) to climb the stairs.
Can 爬 mean to get up from bed?
Yes. In casual speech 爬起来 (pá qǐlái) means to get up or sit up, often with some effort. Example: 他七点才爬起来。(Tā qī diǎn cái pá qǐlái.) He only dragged himself up at seven.