拷 (kǎo) is a Chinese character meaning “to copy”. It is written from 扌 (hand (radical form)) and 考 (to test; to examine), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “to copy”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
扌 + 考
Left–right structure
Structure from: modern-glyph decomposition verified against hanzi-writer-data stroke order (3 + 6 = 9 strokes)
Memory aid
A hand (扌) doing what 考 tells you to do — and 考 also tells you the sound: kǎo. The hand beats, or beats out a duplicate.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 拷贝kǎo bèicopy; to copy (a file, a film print)拷 = kǎo
- 拷问kǎo wènto interrogate under torture拷 = kǎo
Go deeper
All readings
to copy; to beat
to copy; to duplicate; to flog or beat (in interrogation)
复制；也指用刑拷打。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 拷贝kǎo bèicopy; to copy (a file, a film print)拷 = kǎo
- 拷问kǎo wènto interrogate under torture拷 = kǎo
Sound component
考 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 拷 mean?
拷 (kǎo) means to copy; to duplicate; to flog or beat (in interrogation).
How do you pronounce 拷?
It is pronounced kǎo.
What parts is 拷 made of?
扌 (hand (radical form)) and 考 (to test; to examine), side by side. The recorded source is: modern-glyph decomposition verified against hanzi-writer-data stroke order (3 + 6 = 9 strokes). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 拷 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 拷?
扌. 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 拷?
Common ones are 拷贝 and 拷问. The reading of 拷 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.