拔

• Pinyin: bá
• Hanzi breakdown: 拔 = 扌(hand) + 犮 (phonetic)

Meaning

Pull out; extract; uproot. To remove something by pulling it with force.

Used for pulling out objects that are embedded or stuck, such as teeth (拔牙), weeds (拔草), corks (拔塞子), or plugs. Also used figuratively in expressions like 拔尖 (stand out, be top-notch).

Examples

1. 医生说我这颗智齿必须拔掉，否则会影响其他牙齿。 The doctor said this wisdom tooth must be pulled out, otherwise it will affect my other teeth.
2. 春天到了，我们一起去田里拔萝卜吧。 Spring has arrived — let's go to the field together to pull radishes.
3. 他一用力就把钉子从墙上拔了出来。 With one strong pull, he extracted the nail from the wall.

Usage Guide

Context: everyday, medical, gardening

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 我明天要去拔牙。(I'm going to have a tooth pulled tomorrow.)
• 把这些杂草都拔掉。(Pull out all these weeds.)

Don't Say

• 说'拔出来水龙头'——应该说'关掉水龙头'，拔用于嵌入的东西 (Don't say '拔出来水龙头' for faucets — use 关 for turning off; 拔 is for embedded objects)

Origin & History

Pictophonetic character with 扌(hand radical) indicating action performed by hand, and 犮 as phonetic component.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal