Chinese word

拔

Pronunciation

Pinyinbá

Meaning

  • verbpull out

Example

医生今天把我的智齿拔了。yī shēng jīn tiān bǎ wǒ de zhì chǐ bá le

The doctor pulled out my wisdom tooth today.

Illustration for 拔 (pull out)

More examples

他把电脑的插头拔掉了。tā bǎ diàn nǎo de chā tóu bá diào le

He pulled the computer's plug out.

Core concept

A hand-powered motion that draws something free from an attached, embedded, or planted position.

Common phrases

  • 拔出bá chū

    pull out

  • 拔掉bá diào

    pull out

Similar words

拿ná: Grasping something with the hand and lifting or carrying it.
取qǔ: Taking something with the hand and gaining possession of it.
拉lā: Pulling something toward oneself or in a chosen direction.
扯chě: Yanking something apart or tearing it by pulling hard.

Definition in Chinese

用手把某物从里面或表面拉出或取出。yòng shóu bǎ mǒu wù cóng lǐ miàn huò biǎo miàn lā chū huò qǔ chū

Word origin

拔 (bá, "pull out") is a semantic-phonetic character in which 扌 (shǒu, "hand") signals the action and 犮 (bá, "sound element") signals the sound.

Usage tips

  • English often uses different verbs for a tooth, a plant, and a plug, while Chinese keeps one removal verb across these settings and lets the surrounding noun provide the context.

Other meanings

  • unplugverb
  • pull upverb

Opposites

Related words

  • 拔出bá chūpull outverb
  • 拔掉bá diàopull outverb

Word lists with this word