夺 (duó) · to seize; to take by force

Meanings

1 to seize; to take by force
2 to compete for; to win (a prize)

Characters

夺

duó

to seize; to compete for

Examples

HSK 5

不能夺走别人的权利。

Bù néng duó zǒu biéren de quánlì.

You cannot take away others' rights.

HSK 6

他夺得了金牌。

Tā duódé le jīnpái.

He won the gold medal.

HSK 7-9

她的美丽光彩夺目。

Tā de měilì guāngcǎiduómù.

Her beauty is dazzling.

Tips

usage

夺 implies forceful or competitive action. Common compounds: 夺冠 (win the championship), 夺取 (seize/capture), 夺目 (dazzling, eye-catching), 争夺 (compete for).

Components

radical

大 dà

big; person with arms out

Top is the indexing radical 大, a person standing with arms outstretched. In the traditional 奪 the full graph showed a hand seizing a bird 隹 from beneath a robe 衣; the simplified form keeps just the human figure on top to carry the sense of a person doing the seizing.

semantic

寸 cùn

hand; thumb-measure

Bottom 寸 - a hand with a thumb-mark - depicts the seizing hand itself. The whole graph reads 'a person reaching down with a hand to grab,' giving the senses 'snatch, seize, wrest, capture, win.' 寸 carries the action-of-the-hand role across many seizing/holding chars (导, 封, 射).