HSK 6 · Verbs

操纵 cāozòng “to control” in Chinese

Traditional 操縱

What 操纵 means

  1. to control
  2. to manipulate
  3. to operate
  4. to rig

How to say 操纵

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale操cāo1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale纵zòng4th tone, falling

操纵 in a sentence

  1. 幕后操纵者是谁？

    Mùhòu cāozòngzhě shì shéi?

    Who’s pulling the strings behind the scenes?

    Sentence #10215680 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 操纵 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 操 (cāo) with each of its parts in a different colour
操cāoto grasp
  • 扌hand form of 手 · shǒuMeaning part
  • 喿the sound of birds chirping · sàoSound part

扌 hints at the meaning (hand); 喿 (sào) hints at the sound. Compare it with cāo.

The character 纵 (zòng) with each of its parts in a different colour
纵zòngvertical; north-south
  • 纟silk form of 糸 · mìMeaning part
  • 从from · cóngSound part

纟 hints at the meaning (silk); 从 (cóng) hints at the sound. Compare it with zòng.

How to write 操纵

操 16 strokes · 纵 7 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

操纵 (cāozòng) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 操纵 (cāozòng). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 操纵

Words with 操

操场cāochǎng · playground操心cāoxīn · to worry about操练cāoliàn · to drill操劳cāoláo · to work hard操作cāozuò · to operate

Words with 纵

纵横zònghéng · in all directions

More words: Common Verbs

捕捉bǔzhuō · to catch采集cǎijí · to gather残留cánliú · to remain操练cāoliàn · to drill搀chān · to support by the arm颤抖chàndǒu · to tremble敞开chǎngkāi · to open wide尝试chángshì · to try

FAQs

操纵 (cāozòng) means “to control” or “to manipulate”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it cāozòng: cāo with a 1st tone, then zòng with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 操纵 is written 操縱. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type caozong with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 操纵 from the suggestions. Typing caozong into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
操纵 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.