Chinese word

躲

Pronunciation

Pinyinduǒ

Meaning

  • verbhide

Example

小猫躲在床下。xiǎo māo duǒ zài chuáng xià

The kitten is hiding under the bed.

Illustration for 躲 (hide)

More examples

听到脚步声，女孩躲在门后不敢出来。tīng dào jiǎo bù shēng nǚ hái duǒ zài mén hòu bù gǎn chū lái

When she heard footsteps, the girl hid behind the door and did not dare to come out.

Core concept

Make oneself unavailable by shifting away from a person, object, or problem.

Common phrases

  • 躲在角落duǒ zài jiǎo luò

    hide in a corner

  • 躲进被子里duǒ jìn bèi zi lǐ

    hide in the covers

Similar words

躲藏duǒ cáng: Moving into a hiding place so that others cannot find you.
避免bì miǎn: Act or use a method to prevent something unwanted from happening.
隐藏yǐn cáng: Keep an object or information out of people's sight or attention.

Definition in Chinese

在他人视线或触及范围之外藏匿或移开，以免被发现或碰到，也可指设法回避某事。zài tā rén shì xiàn huò chù jí fàn wéi zhī wài cáng nì huò yí kāi yí miǎn bèi fā xiàn huò pèng dào yě kě zhǐ shè fǎ huí bì mǒu shì

Word origin

身 (shēn, "body") + 朵 (duǒ, "sound element") form the phono-semantic character 躲 (duǒ, "hide"), with 身 pointing to the body being moved out of sight and 朵 supplying the pronunciation.

Usage tips

  • The pattern 躲不过 (duǒbuguò, "cannot evade") presents escape as impossible, a useful way to recognize the verb in everyday statements about consequences or responsibilities.

Other meanings

  • avoidverb

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word