卜 bǔ fortune teller

源How it came to be

The crack that opens in a tortoise shell when it is held in a fire. Fortune tellers read the angle of it, and the character draws the crack itself.

用How it is used

• To divine/foretell - 占卜 (zhānbǔ) to practice divination, 卜卦 (bǔ guà) to tell fortunes, 未卜先知 (wèibǔ-xiānzhī) to foresee without divining, i.e. prophetic.
• Second reading bo, toneless, is just a phonetic in 萝卜 (luóbo) radish - no 'divination' meaning there.
• So: bǔ = foretell; bo = the radish syllable. A classic reading trap.

字Characters built with 卜

• 下 down
• 外 outside
• 处 place
• 卡 card
• 盐 salt
• 卧 to crouch
• 补 to fix
• 吓 to scare
• 扑 to attack
• 朴 plain
• 仆 to fall forward
• 卦 divination
• 虾 shrimp
• 赴 to attend

词Words with 卜

• 占卜zhānbǔto divineHSK 8
• 萝卜luóboradish (Raphanus sativus), especially daikonHSK 9

句Example sentences

• 辣椒、洋葱和胡萝卜都属于蔬菜类。 Làjiāo、yángcōng hé húluóbo dōu shǔyú shūcàilèi.Peppers, onions and carrots are all vegetables.