绕 meaning in English

rào

to wind; to coil (thread)

HSK 5verbTraditional 繞9 strokes

Meaning of 绕

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

rào

to wind
to coil (thread)
to rotate around
to spiral
to move around
to go round (an obstacle)
to by-pass
to make a detour

rào

variant of 繞|绕[rao4], to rotate around
to spiral
to move around
to go round (an obstacle)
to by-pass
to make a detour

How to use 绕

绕 is used for winding thread, circling around something, and taking a detour around an obstacle. It often pairs with direction words like 过, 道 and 圈. Example: 前面修路，我们绕过去吧。(Qiánmiàn xiū lù, wǒmen rào guòqù ba.) The road ahead is under repair, let's go around it.

绕 (rào) has the silk radical 纟 on the left and 尧 (yáo) on the right. Picture a silk thread winding round and round something, which is the core idea of wrapping, circling and going around.

Common mistake: Learners sometimes write 烧 (shāo, to burn) or 晓 (xiǎo) instead, because all three share 尧 on the right. Check the left side: 绕 takes the silk radical 纟, not fire 火 or sun 日.

绕 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

他tā绕rào过guò了le那nà些xiē问wèn题tí。

He avoided the problems.

行xíng星xīng绕rào著zhù太tài阳yáng转zhuǎn。

Planets orbit around the Sun.

日rì本běn被bèi海hǎi环huán绕rào着zhe。

Japan is surrounded by sea.

地dì球qiú绕rào着zhe太tài阳yáng转zhuǎn。

The Earth moves around the sun.

现xiàn代dài交jiāo通tōng使shǐ我wǒ们men能néng在zài几jǐ天tiān内nèi环huán绕rào地dì球qiú。

Modern travel enables us to go around the world in a few days.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

绕 rào · to wind · 9 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 绕.

围绕	wéirào	to revolve around; to center on (an issue)
环绕	huánrào	to surround; to circle
绕行	ràoxíng	to take a circular (or circuitous) route; to do a circuit
绕过	ràoguò	to detour; to bypass
绕道	ràodào	to go by a roundabout route; to take a detour
萦绕	yíngrào	to linger on; to hover
缠绕	chánrào	twisting; to twine
绕圈子	ràoquānzi	to go around in circles; to make a detour

Questions about 绕

What does 绕 mean?

绕 (rào) means "to wind; to coil (thread)" and is used as a verb.

How do you write 绕?

绕 is made of 1 character: 绕 (9 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.

Is 绕 an HSK word?

Yes. 绕 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How is 绕 written in traditional Chinese?

In traditional characters, 绕 is written 繞.

What does 绕圈子 mean?

Literally it means to go around in circles. People also use it to mean beating around the bush, as in 别绕圈子了 (bié rào quānzi le), stop beating around the bush.

What is the difference between 绕 and 围绕?

绕 is a single verb for physically winding or going around, like 绕道 or 绕线. 围绕 is more formal and is often abstract, meaning to center on a topic, as in 围绕这个问题 (wéirào zhège wèntí), focusing on this issue.