鼓 meaning in English

gǔ

drum; to drum

HSK 5nounverb13 strokes

Meaning of 鼓

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

gǔ

drum
to drum
to strike
to rouse
to bulge
to swell

Measure word: 通,面

gǔ

old variant of 鼓[gu3]

How to use 鼓

As a noun, 鼓 means a drum, and as a verb it means to beat, to rouse, or to puff out. It appears in many common words like 鼓励 (gǔlì, to encourage) and 鼓掌 (gǔzhǎng, to applaud). Example: 他鼓起勇气说话了。(Tā gǔ qǐ yǒngqì shuōhuà le.) He summoned up his courage and spoke.

The left side of 鼓 (gǔ) looks like a drum on a stand with decoration on top, and the right side 支 looks like a hand holding a stick. Picture a hand with a stick striking a drum.

Common mistake: Learners often write the right side as 皮 or 攴 instead of 支, which gives a wrong or variant form. Also keep the third tone gǔ, and do not confuse it with 骨 (gǔ, bone), which sounds the same.

鼓 in example sentences

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

我wǒ给gěi我wǒ的de老lǎo爸bà送sòng了le一yí个gè铃líng鼓gǔ。

I gave my dad a tambourine as a gift.

你nǐ一yí定dìng要yào鼓gǔ起qǐ勇yǒng气qì。

You must build up your courage.

我wǒ们men为wèi表biǎo演yǎn者zhě鼓gǔ掌zhǎng。

We gave the performer a round of applause.

我wǒ鼓gǔ励lì学xué生shēng们men更gèng努nǔ力lì地dì学xué习xí。

I inspired my students to work harder.

汤tāng姆mǔ鼓gǔ励lì他tā儿ér子zi学xué法fǎ语yǔ。

Tom encouraged his son to study French.

Stroke order for each character

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

鼓 gǔ · drum · 13 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 鼓.

鼓励	gǔlì	to encourage
鼓掌	gǔzhǎng	to applaud; to clap
鼓舞	gǔwǔ	to inspire; to encourage; to hearten; to boost (morale)
鼓动	gǔdòng	to urge (an activity that may be beneficial, harmful or neutral); to encourage; to agitate
敲边鼓	qiāo biāngǔ	to back sb up; to support sb in an argument
一鼓作气	yīgǔ-zuòqì	in a spurt of energy
鼓手	gǔshǒu	drummer
鼓起勇气	gǔqǐyǒngqì	to summon one's courage
蒙在鼓里	méngzàigǔlǐ	lit. kept inside a drum (idiom); fig. completely in the dark
打鼓	dǎgǔ	to beat a drum; to play a drum
鼓声	gǔshēng	sound of a drum; drumbeat
鼓起	gǔqǐ	to summon one's (courage, faith etc); to puff up (one's cheeks etc)

Questions about 鼓

What does 鼓 mean?

鼓 (gǔ) means "drum; to drum" and is used as a noun and verb.

How do you write 鼓?

鼓 is made of 1 character: 鼓 (13 strokes). That is 13 strokes in total.

Is 鼓 an HSK word?

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

How do you say 'to play the drums' in Chinese?

The usual phrase is 打鼓 (dǎ gǔ) or 敲鼓 (qiāo gǔ). For a drum kit in a band, people often say 打架子鼓 (dǎ jiàzigǔ).

What does 鼓 mean in 鼓起来 or 鼓鼓的?

Here 鼓 means to bulge or swell. 他的书包鼓鼓的 (Tā de shūbāo gǔgǔ de) means his schoolbag is stuffed full, and 鼓起腮帮子 means to puff out your cheeks.