claw

Origin & mnemonic

The claw radical originates from a pictographic glyph in oracle-bone script, depicting the shape of an animal's claw or foot; it commonly appears in characters related to animals and grasping.

Mnemonic: Four curved strokes resemble the claws of a cat or bird gripping and clawing.

• 爪zhǎo🔊

  foot of a bird or animal

  4 strokes

• 爫zhǎo🔊

  "claw" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 87)

  4 strokes

• 爬pá🔊

  to crawl

  HSK 2

  8 strokes

• 争zhēng🔊

  to strive for

  HSK 3

  8 strokes

• 爯chēng🔊

  old variant of 稱|称[cheng1]

  9 strokes

• 爰yuán🔊

  therefore

  9 strokes

• 爱ài🔊

  to love; to be fond of; to like

  HSK 1

  10 strokes

• 为wèi🔊

  variant of 為|为[wei4]

  HSK 2

  12 strokes

• 爵jué🔊

  ancient bronze wine holder with 3 legs and loop handle

  17 strokes