洞

• Pinyin: dòng
• Hanzi breakdown: 洞 = 氵(water radical) + 同 (same, phonetic)

Meaning

Hole; cave; cavity. An opening or hollow space in a surface.

Can refer to natural caves (山洞), holes in objects (衣服上有个洞), or figurative gaps. Also used in compounds like 洞穴 (cave), 黑洞 (black hole), and 洞察 (to see through).

Examples

1. 探险家们发现了一个从未被人类探索过的山洞。 The explorers discovered a cave that had never been explored by humans.
2. 我的袜子上有个洞，得换一双新的。 There's a hole in my sock — I need to get a new pair.
3. 兔子飞快地钻进了地上的洞里。 The rabbit quickly burrowed into the hole in the ground.

Usage Guide

Context: nature, everyday, description

Tone: descriptive

Do Say

• 衣服上有个洞。(There's a hole in the clothes.)
• 山洞很深。(The cave is very deep.)

Don't Say

• '洞'强调深度或贯穿——浅的凹陷用'坑'，小的开口用'孔'更准确 (洞 emphasizes depth or penetration — for shallow dents use 坑, for small openings use 孔)

Origin & History

Pictophonetic character: 氵(water radical) originally related to deep pools, 同 is the phonetic component.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal