烤 (kǎo) is a Chinese character meaning “to roast”. It is written from 火 (fire) and 考 (to test; to examine), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “to roast”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
火 + 考
Left–right structure
Structure from: IDS ⿰火考，笔画核验 4+6=10（hanzi-writer-data：火 0–3，考 4–9）；声符 考 kǎo 与 烤 kǎo 读音完全一致
Memory aid
火 (fire) on the left tells you what happens: food over heat. 考 on the right is here for its sound — 考 is kǎo, and so is 烤. Fire + kǎo = to roast.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 烤鸭kǎo yāroast duck烤 = kǎo
- 烤肉kǎo ròuroast meat; barbecue烤 = kǎo
- 烘烤hōng kǎoto bake; to roast烤 = kǎo
Go deeper
All readings
to roast
to roast; to bake; to toast; to warm oneself by a fire
把东西放在火旁或火上使它变熟或变干；也指靠近火取暖。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 烤鸭kǎo yāroast duck烤 = kǎo
- 烤肉kǎo ròuroast meat; barbecue烤 = kǎo
- 烘烤hōng kǎoto bake; to roast烤 = kǎo
Sound component
考 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 烤 mean?
烤 (kǎo) means to roast; to bake; to toast; to warm oneself by a fire.
How do you pronounce 烤?
It is pronounced kǎo.
What parts is 烤 made of?
火 (fire) and 考 (to test; to examine), side by side. The recorded source is: IDS ⿰火考，笔画核验 4+6=10（hanzi-writer-data：火 0–3，考 4–9）；声符 考 kǎo 与 烤 kǎo 读音完全一致. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 烤 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 烤?
火. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 烤?
Common ones are 烤鸭 and 烤肉. The reading of 烤 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.