Phono-semantic compound:
手 (hand radical) – semantic, indicating action by hand.
兆 (omen, sign; phonetic) – phonetic element.
The image conveys the idea of lifting up or stirring with the hand, extended metaphorically to provoking or instigating.

Semantic range:
- to lift, to poke, to push upward;
- to incite, to provoke, to challenge;
- figurative: to arouse emotions or conflict.

In compounds, 挑 often leans toward the sense of provocation (挑發, 挑戰), while as a standalone it may mean to lift or raise.
도발 (挑發) – provocation
도전 (挑戰) – challenge
유도 (誘挑) – inducement, enticement
책망도전 (責望挑戰) – to provoke or challenge through criticism

Characters

Words

Vocabulary

to brush off, to shake off, to dust, to wave away, repel

to expand, to open up, to broaden, to print, to make a rubbing, to engrave, to carve

to pull out, to extract, to uproot, to remove, to withdraw, to surpass, to excel

to seize, to detain, to arrest, to restrict, to restrain, to be bound by

to bow, to pay respects, to worship, to salute, to pray, to visit

to wipe, to clean, to wash away

to hold, to grasp, to carry, to maintain, to sustain, to persist

to point, to indicate, finger

to raise, to provoke, to stir up, to lift, to poke, to incite

to seize, to catch, to arrest, to capture

to give

to search, to look for, to probe, to explore

to connect, to join, to come into contact, to receive, to engage

to help, to assist, to aid

to carry, to shoulder, to bear a burden, to undertake, to take responsibility

to enlarge, to expand, to widen, to extend, to amplify

to grasp, to hold, to govern, to administer, to absorb, to take in

The content on this page provided under the CC BY-NC-SA license.

Explore the meaning, etymology and usage of this Chinese character. Learn its radical and how it is applied in Korean language.

Chinese character

Explore 214 Chinese radicals and their derived characters. Sort by radical or stroke count, and view the complete list of official Hanja radicals.

Chinese characters (Hanja)

Chinese characters dictionary

挑

Etymology

Usage in Korean

Characters next to each other in the list

References