拔

Tap the pinyin to hear it

to pull up; to pull out; to draw out by suction; to select; to pick; to stand out (above level); to surpass; to seize

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HSK 3.0: Level 5
Old HSK: Level 6
Strokes: 8
Radical: 手 +5
Structure: Left–right 左右
Traditional: 拔
Common rank: #1,081
Unicode: U+62D4

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 拔 is formed

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

扌 meaning “hand” + 犮 sound ( bá )

Components 扌犮

How to remember it

pull out · Heisig RSH #2699

fingers + seeing-eye chihuahua

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 拔

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
路见不平，拔刀相助	lù jiàn bù píng , bá dāo xiāng zhù	lit. to intervene when one sees an injustice (idiom); fig. to rush to the rescue; to play …
一毛不拔	yī máo bù bá	(lit.) unwilling to spare a single hair (idiom); (fig.) extremely stingy
阿拔斯王朝	Ā bá sī Wáng cháo	Abbasid Empire (750-1258), successor of the Umayyad caliphate
拔地而起	bá dì ér qǐ	(idiom) (of a building etc) to rise out of the ground
拔节期	bá jié qī	elongation stage; jointing stage (agriculture)
汉尼拔	Hàn ní bá	Hannibal (name); Hannibal Barca (247-183 BC), Carthaginian general
拔地	bá dì	to rise steeply from level ground
自拔	zì bá	to free oneself; to extricate oneself from a difficult situation
拔海	bá hǎi	elevation (above sea level)
海拔	hǎi bá	height above sea level; elevation
拔高	bá gāo	to raise (one's voice); to overrate; to build up; to stand out; outstanding
开拔	kāi bá	to set out (of troops); departure; start date (of military expedition)
连根拔	lián gēn bá	to pull up by the roots; to uproot
拔刀相助	bá dāo xiāng zhù	see 路見不平，拔刀相助\|路见不平，拔刀相助[lu4 jian4 bu4 ping2 , ba2 dao1 xiang1 zhu4]
拔河	bá hé	tug-of-war; to take part in a tug-of-war
拔节	bá jié	jointing (agriculture)
矮子里拔将军	ǎi zi li bá jiāng jūn	lit. choose a general from among the dwarfs; fig. choose the best person available (out of…
拔毛	bá máo	to pull out hair; to pluck; epilation
鞋拔子	xié bá zi	shoehorn
拔尖儿	bá jiān r	erhua variant of 拔尖[ba2 jian1]

Sound family

Characters sharing the sound component 犮 — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
犮 sound part	bá	to pull up
跋	bá	to walk, to travel; epilogue, colophon
钹	bó	cymbals
祓	fú	to exorcise; to cleanse
鲅	bà	Chinese mackerel
魃	bá	drought demon
茇	bá	straw, thatch
黻	fú	special pattern of embroidery