Chinese word

敲

Pronunciation

Pinyinqiāo

Meaning

  • verbknock

Example

有人在门外敲门。yǒu rén zài mén wài qiāo mén

Someone outside is knocking on the door.

Illustration for 敲 (knock)

More examples

新年时，村民们一起敲锣庆祝。xīn nián shí cūn mín men yì qǐ qiāo luó qìng zhù

At New Year, the villagers beat a gong together to celebrate.

Core concept

A controlled strike makes contact with a surface and produces a noticeable sound or vibration.

Common phrases

  • 敲锣qiāo luó

    beat a gong

  • 敲门qiāo mén

    knock on the door

  • 敲警钟qiāo jǐng zhōng

    sound the alarm

Similar words

打dǎ: Applying force to an object by striking it with a hand or tool, causing impact or possible damage.
拍pāi: Giving light taps with the palm or another flat surface to make a sound or feel its surface.
砸zá: Hitting something very hard with a heavy object or great force so that it breaks or becomes dented.

Definition in Chinese

用手或器物击打物体表面以发出声音或振动，既可表示提醒或请求通行，也可用于演奏或操作物品（如敲鼓、敲键盘）。yòng shǒu huò qì wù jī dǎ wù tǐ biǎo miàn yǐ fā chū shēng yīn huò zhèn dòng jì kě biǎo shì tí xǐng huò qǐng qiú tōng xíng yě kě yòng yú yǎn zòu huò cāo zuò wù pǐn rú qiāo gǔ qiāo jiàn pán

Word origin

The character 敲 (qiāo, "knock") uses 高 (gāo, "high") as its phonetic part and 攴 (pū, "strike") as its meaning-bearing part, linking the pronunciation to striking action.

Usage tips

  • The verb does not by itself suggest a hard or damaging blow, so context or an added description determines how forceful the action is.

Other meanings

  • hitverb

Related words

  • 敲定qiāo dìngfinalizeverb
  • 敲诈qiāo zhàextortverb
  • 敲门砖qiāo mén zhuānstepping stonenoun

Word lists with this word