掳

擄
lǔ
verb #15,131

Meanings

  1. 1 to capture (a person)
  2. 2 to take captive
  3. 3 to abduct

Examples

HSK 7-9
Hǎidào lǔ zǒu le shāngchuán shàng de shuǐshǒu.
The pirates captured the sailors from the merchant ship.
HSK 7-9
Díjūn lǔlüè le zhěnggè cūnzhuāng.
The enemy troops plundered the entire village.

Tips

usage
掳 is a bound form - it doesn't stand alone in modern Chinese. Common compounds: 掳走 (to abduct/carry off), 掳掠 (to plunder and take captives), 掳获 (to capture).

Components

radical
扌 shǒu
hand
The hand radical, side-form of 手, marks 掳 as a physical action done with the hands - here the violent grabbing of captives. It groups the character with 抓、抢、拘 in the wider seizing-and-restraining family.
phonetic
虏 lǔ
captive; to capture
Carries the sound lǔ unchanged and reinforces the meaning, since 虏 by itself already means a war captive. 掳 is essentially 虏 made vivid by the hand radical - a captor's hand actively dragging the prisoner away.

Stroke Order

掳 lǔ