haau1拷
Jyutpinghaau1
Yalehāau
Definition
To torture, beat, or interrogate using physical force or torture devices.
writtenother
How it's used
This character is almost exclusively used in formal or literary contexts related to interrogation or physical punishment. It rarely appears as a standalone verb in daily speech, functioning instead as a bound morpheme within specific compound words. You will mostly encounter it in crime dramas or historical accounts involving police or judicial proceedings.
Examples
He was tortured for a long time.
Related words
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with 考, which means to test or examine. While they share a similar sound, 拷 implies the use of force or instruments of pain, whereas 考 is strictly academic or evaluative.
Grammar color guide
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Grammar guides
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
