Meaning
淘 primarily means to wash or sift through something to separate desired material from waste, like panning for gold or rinsing rice. It has extended meanings including filtering out or eliminating unwanted things, and colloquially describing naughty or mischievous behavior (especially in children).
Usage
Most commonly seen in compounds like 淘宝 (Taobao, literally 'search for treasure'), 淘米 (to rinse rice), and 淘气 (naughty/mischievous). As a standalone verb, it's somewhat literary in modern usage, though the compounds remain everyday vocabulary. The elimination sense appears in contexts like competitions or selections.
Examples
- 01做饭前要先淘米。.Before cooking, you need to rinse the rice first.
- 02这个孩子真淘气，总是到处乱跑。, .This child is really naughty, always running around everywhere.
Common collocations
- 淘宝Taobao (shopping site); to hunt for treasures
- 淘米to rinse rice
- 淘气naughty, mischievous
- 淘汰to eliminate, to weed out
Antonyms
Origin
The character contains the water radical 氵(water) on the left, indicating its connection to washing or water-related activities. The right component 匋 relates to pottery making, suggesting the washing/refining process.