hú
抇
dig; excavate
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 2 examplesverb
to dig; to excavate; to gouge out
archaicThis is an archaic, literary usage. In modern Chinese, '狐' almost exclusively means 'fox'. The meaning 'to dig' is very rare and found in classical texts.
《
Shī诗
Jīng经
》
yǒu有
yún云
：
“
hú狐
qiú裘
méng蒙
róng戎
。
”
cǐ
hú此
“
tōng狐
”
hú通
“
yǒu弧
”
，
jué有
qǔ掘
zhī取
yì之
rán意
，
jīn然
yǐ今
hǎn已
yòng罕
用
。
The 'Book of Songs' says: '...' Here 'hú' is interchangeable with '弧', carrying the meaning of digging, but this usage is now rare.
Gǔ古
rén人
huò或
hú狐
tǔ土
wéi为
xué穴
。
Ancient people sometimes dug earth to make caves.