哺 (bǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “to feed (a baby or young)”. It is written from 口 (mouth) and 甫 (fǔ (sound component)), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “to feed”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
口 + 甫
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字: 哺，哺咀也。从口甫聲; ids-decomposition (⿰口甫; 3+7 笔与 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 的 10 笔字形逐笔核验一致：笔画 0–2 为 口，笔画 3–9 为 甫)
Memory aid
A mouth (口) next to 甫: food goes from one mouth into another — that is feeding.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 哺乳bǔ rǔto breastfeed; to suckle哺 = bǔspoken asbú rǔ
- 哺育bǔ yùto feed and raise; to nurture哺 = bǔ
Go deeper
All readings
to feed
to feed (a baby or young); to nurse
喂养（幼儿或幼崽）；喂食。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 哺乳bǔ rǔto breastfeed; to suckle哺 = bǔspoken asbú rǔ
- 哺育bǔ yùto feed and raise; to nurture哺 = bǔ
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 哺 mean?
哺 (bǔ) means to feed (a baby or young); to nurse.
How do you pronounce 哺?
It is pronounced bǔ.
What parts is 哺 made of?
口 (mouth) and 甫 (fǔ (sound component)), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 哺，哺咀也。从口甫聲; ids-decomposition (⿰口甫; 3+7 笔与 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 的 10 笔字形逐笔核验一致：笔画 0–2 为 口，笔画 3–9 为 甫). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 哺 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 哺?
口. 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 哺?
Common ones are 哺乳 and 哺育. The reading of 哺 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.