Meaning of 草
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- grass
- straw
- manuscript
- draft (of a document)
- careless
- rough
Measure word: 棵,撮,株,根
- variant of 草[cao3]
- variant of 肏[cao4]
How to use 草
草 (cǎo) most often means grass or small plants, and it appears in words like 草地 (cǎodì, lawn) and 草原 (cǎoyuán, grassland). It can also mean a rough draft, as in 起草 (qǐcǎo, to draft) and 草案 (cǎo'àn, draft proposal). Example: 请不要踩草地。(Qǐng bú yào cǎi cǎodì.) Please keep off the grass.
The top part of 草 (cǎo) is the grass radical 艹, which looks like two little sprouts poking out of the ground. Below it sits 早 (zǎo, early), so picture grass shooting up early in the morning.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes write the bottom part as 旱 or 皁 instead of 早 (zǎo), so remember it is just 日 over 十. Also keep the third tone cǎo, because the fourth tone cào is a vulgar word.
草 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.
草 cǎo · grass · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 草.
| 草地 | cǎodì | lawn; meadow |
| 草原 | cǎoyuán | grassland; prairie |
| 草坪 | cǎopíng | lawn |
| 起草 | qǐcǎo | to make a draft; to draw up (plans) |
| 稻草 | dàocǎo | rice straw |
| 草案 | cǎo'àn | draft (legislation, proposal etc) |
| 斩草除根 | zhǎncǎo-chúgēn | to cut weeds and eliminate the roots (idiom); to destroy root and branch; to eliminate com |
| 潦草 | liáocǎo | slipshod; careless; slovenly; (of handwriting) scrawly; illegible |
| 奇花异草 | qíhuā-yìcǎo | (idiom) rare or exotic flowers and plants |
| 草莓 | cǎoméi | strawberry; (Tw) hickey |
| 香草 | xiāngcǎo | aromatic herb; vanilla |
| 烟草 | yāncǎo | tobacco |
Questions about 草
What does 草 mean?
草 (cǎo) means "grass; straw" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 草?
草 is made of 1 character: 草 (9 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.
Is 草 an HSK word?
Yes. 草 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why does 草 also mean careless or rough?
Grass is common and grows untidily, so 草 picked up the sense of something quick and unpolished. You see this in 草率 (cǎoshuài, careless) and in the drafting words like 草稿 (cǎogǎo, rough draft).
What is the difference between 草地 and 草坪?
草坪 (cǎopíng) usually means a planted, mowed lawn, like in a park or yard. 草地 (cǎodì) is broader and can mean any grassy area, including a natural meadow.