HSK 6 · Verbs

扣 kòu “to button” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 扣 means

  1. to button
  2. to fasten
  3. to deduct
  4. buckle
  5. knot
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • to arrest

How to say 扣

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale扣kòu4th tone, falling

扣 in a sentence

  1. 法律规定，在车辆和飞机上，一定要扣上安全带。

    Fǎlǜ guīdìng, zài chēliàng hé fēijī shàng, yídìng yào kòu shàng ānquándài.

    By law, you must always fasten your seatbelt in cars and planes.

    Sentence #779864 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  2. 你的衬衫没系上扣子。

    Nǐ de chènshān méi jì shàng kòuzi.

    Your shirt isn’t buttoned up.

    Sentence #10040475 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 扣 can also mean “to detain” or “to seize”

    包裹被海关扣了。

    Bāoguǒ bèi hǎiguān kòu le.

    The package was seized by customs.

    Sentence #8767479 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 扣 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 扣 (kòu) with each of its parts in a different colour
扣kòuto fasten
  • 扌hand form of 手 · shǒuMeaning part
  • 口mouth · kǒuSound part

扌 hints at the meaning (hand); 口 (kǒu) hints at the sound. Compare it with kòu.

How to write 扣

扣 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 扣

Words with 扣

纽扣儿niǔkòur · button

More words: Common Verbs

考察kǎochá · to investigate靠拢kàolǒng · to draw close磕kē · to knock (against)啃kěn · to gnaw挎kuà · to carry on the arm or over the shoulder跨kuà · to step across款待kuǎndài · to entertain (guests)亏待kuīdài · to treat unfairly

FAQs

扣 (kòu) means “to button” or “to fasten”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it kòu: kòu with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 扣 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type kou with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 扣 from the suggestions. Typing kou into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
扣 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.