捣

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to pound; to beat; to hull; to attack; to disturb; to stir

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Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

扌 meaning “hand” + 岛 sound ( dǎo )

Components 扌岛

pound with a pestle · Heisig RSH #2875

fingers + 岛 island

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
直捣黄龙	zhí dǎo Huáng Lóng	lit. to directly attack Huanglong; fig. to directly combat the root of a problem
调皮捣蛋	tiáo pí dǎo dàn	naughty; mischievous; to act up
捣蛋鬼	dǎo dàn guǐ	troublemaker
捣实	dǎo shí	to ram (earth); to compact earth by ramming
直捣	zhí dǎo	to advance directly toward (an enemy stronghold etc); (fig.) to directly target (the main …
捣衣	dǎo yī	to launder clothes by pounding
捣蛋	dǎo dàn	to cause trouble; to stir up trouble
捣鬼	dǎo guǐ	to play tricks; to cause mischief
捣乱	dǎo luàn	to disturb; to look for trouble; to stir up a row; to bother sb intentionally
磕头如捣蒜	kē tóu rú dǎo suàn	(idiom) to kowtow repeatedly and rapidly (esp. when pleading for mercy)
捣卖	dǎo mài	to resell at a profit
捣鼓	dǎo gu	to fiddle with sth; to trade with sth
鼓捣	gǔ dao	to tinker with; to incite
捣弄	dǎo nòng	to move back and forward; to trade
捣碎	dǎo suì	to pound into pieces; to mash
捣烂	dǎo làn	to mash; to beat to a pulp
捣腾	dǎo téng	to buy and sell; peddling
捣腾	dǎo teng	to turn over sth repeatedly
捣毁	dǎo huǐ	to destroy; to smash; sabotage