揩

kāi
扌 + 皆

Definitions

kāi to wipe

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 皆 represents the sound.

Semantic: 扌 Phonetic: 皆

About

The character 揩 is a phono-semantic compound: the hand radical 扌 on the left signals a manual action, and the phonetic 皆 on the right indicates the pronunciation. Its core meaning is the physical act of wiping, scrubbing, or rubbing a surface clean, typically with the hand or a cloth. Beyond this, in some regional dialects it has acquired a figurative sense: to take petty advantage of others or scrape minor benefits off their efforts, likening opportunistic behavior to a cleaning motion.

Example Sentences Hide

妈妈揩了揩桌子。

Māmā kāi le kāi zhuōzi.

Mom wiped the table.

他用纸巾揩手。

Tā yòng zhǐjīn kāi shǒu.

He wiped his hands with a tissue.

我揩干净了窗户。

Wǒ kāi gānjìng le chuānghu.

I wiped the window clean.

服务员揩拭着餐具。

Fúwùyuán kāishì zhe cānjù.

The waiter is wiping the utensils.

他总想揩别人的油。

Tā zǒng xiǎng kāi biérén de yóu.

He always wants to take advantage of others.

揩油这种行为不好。

Kāiyóu zhè zhǒng xíngwéi bù hǎo.

This kind of behavior of taking advantage is not good.

她轻轻揩去眼角的泪水。

Tā qīngqīng kāi qù yǎnjiǎo de lèishuǐ.

She gently wiped away the tears from the corner of her eye.

在合作中，他试图揩公司的油。

Zài hézuò zhōng, tā shìtú kāi gōngsī de yóu.

In the cooperation, he tried to take advantage of the company.

Related Characters

Component: 扌

把 提 打 报 接 指 据 拉 持 技 找 推 投 护

Component: 皆

谐 楷 偕 锴 階 喈 龤 稭 蒈 諧 堦 湝 鍇

Example Words

揩油 揩拭