掉

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to fall; to drop; to lag behind; to lose; to go missing; to reduce; fall (in prices); to lose (value, weight etc); to wag; to swing; to turn; to change; to exchange; to swap; to show off; to shed (hair); (used after certain verbs to express completion, fulfillment, removal etc)

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HSK 3.0: Level 2
Old HSK: Level 4
Strokes: 11
Radical: 手 +8
Structure: Left–right 左右
Traditional: 掉
Common rank: #930
Unicode: U+6389

Sound it out + + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 掉 is formed

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

扌 meaning “hand” + 卓 sound ( zhuó )

Components 扌卓

How to remember it

drop · Heisig RSH #607

fingers + 卓 eminent

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 掉

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
尾大不掉	wěi dà bù diào	large tail obstructs action (idiom); bottom heavy; fig. rendered ineffective by subordinat…
掉点儿	diào diǎn r	drip of rain
掉过儿	diào guò r	erhua variant of 掉過\|掉过[diao4 guo4]
掉价儿	diào jià r	erhua variant of 掉價\|掉价[diao4 jia4]
掉以轻心	diào yǐ qīng xīn	(idiom) to treat sth lightly; to lower one's guard
掉头	diào tóu	to turn one's head; to turn round; to turn about
花掉	huā diào	to spend (time, money); to waste
分掉	fēn diào	to share; to divide up
掉下	diào xià	to drop down; to fall
笑掉大牙	xiào diào dà yá	to laugh one's head off; ridiculous; jaw-dropping
掉头就走	diào tóu jiù zǒu	to turn on one's heels; to walk away abruptly
脱皮掉肉	tuō pí diào ròu	lit. to shed skin, drop flesh; to work as hard as possible; to work one's butt off
打掉	dǎ diào	to tear down; to destroy; to dismantle (a gang); to abort (a fetus)
老掉牙	lǎo diào yá	very old; obsolete; out of date
掉线	diào xiàn	to get disconnected (from the Internet)
掉色	diào sè	to lose color; to fade; also pr. [diao4 shai3]
掉球	diào qiú	(sports) to fumble the ball
死掉	sǐ diào	to die
掉过	diào guò	to swap places
掉转	diào zhuǎn	to turn around

Sound family

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

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
卓 sound part	zhuó	profound, lofty, brilliant
罩	zhào	cover, shroud; basket for catching fish
悼	dào	to grieve, to lament, to mourn
绰	chuò	graceful, delicate; spacious
淖	nào	mud, slush
棹	zhào	oar; boat
焯	chāo	to scald; to flash-boil vegetables
踔	chuō	to stride, to excel, to get ahead
倬	zhuō	noticeable, large; distinct, clear