掏 tāo
- Strokes
- 11
- Radical
- 扌 — hand
- Made of
- 扌 hand 匋 pottery
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
掏腰包
tāoyāobāo
to pay out of one's own pocket
Characters in this word
腰 yāo
- Strokes
- 13
- Radical
- ⺼ — meat, flesh
- Made of
- ⺼ meat, flesh 要 essential, necessary
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
包 bāo
- Strokes
- 5
- Radical
- 勹 — wrap
- Made of
- 勹 wrap 巳 snake
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
Example phrases
- 政府补贴迟迟不到位，项目负责人只好先自己掏腰包垫付工人工资。 Zhèngfǔ bǔtiē chíchí bú dàowèi, xiàngmù fùzérén zhǐ hǎo xiān zìjǐ tāo yāobāo diànfù gōngrén gōngzī. Because the government subsidy was slow to arrive, the project leader had to pay the workers' wages out of his own pocket first.
- 这顿饭不在报销范围内，同事们只好自己掏腰包。 Zhè dùn fàn bú zài bàoxiāo fànwéi nèi, tóngshìmen zhǐhǎo zìjǐ tāo yāobāo. This meal is not covered by expenses, so the colleagues had to pay out of their own pockets.
- 老板心肠好，看见员工有困难，总是毫不犹豫地掏腰包。 Lǎobǎn xīncháng hǎo, kànjiàn yuángōng yǒu kùnnan, zǒngshì háobù yóuyù de tāo yāobāo. The boss is kind-hearted; whenever an employee is in trouble, he always pays out of his own pocket without hesitation.
Related words
- 掏 tāo to pull out, to dig out
- 腰 yāo waist; lower back
- 包 bāo to wrap; bag
- 包子 bāozi baozi, steamed stuffed bun
- 面包 miànbāo bread
- 钱包 qiánbāo wallet, purse
- 书包 shūbāo schoolbag
- 皮包 píbāo leather bag
- 包裹 bāoguǒ parcel; package
- 包含 bāohán to include; to contain
- 包括 bāokuò to include
- 红包 hóngbāo red envelope with money