DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
投
Mandarin · pinyin tóu
Meanings
- to throw (sth in a specific direction: ball, javelin, grenade etc)
- to cast (a ballot)
- to cast (a glance, a shadow etc)
- to put in (money for investment, a coin to operate a slot machine)
- to send (a letter, a manuscript etc)
- to throw oneself into (a river, a well etc to commit suicide)
- to go to; to seek refuge; to place oneself into the hands of
- (coll.) to rinse (clothes) in water
Characters in this entry
- 投
- tóu · throw, cast, fling, pitch; jump
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
2 · tou2
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
1character link8same-tone records
Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.Read this spelling in Classical texts
Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.
Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
tau4
Cantonese word readings for 投. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack
Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
character
- to throw; to fling; to pitch
- to throw oneself into
- to put in; to drop
- to fit in with
- to send
- to cast; to project
- to join; to go to
- (colloquial) to rinse (clothes) in water
- (Hokkien) to report; to tell on; to snitch; to inform one's superiors; to complain to one's parents or superiors
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of 骰 (“dice; die”)
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack