炮 pào — cannon; gun; firecracker; gun; cannon
过年的时候，人们喜欢放鞭炮。Guò nián de shí hou, rén men xǐ huan fàng biān pào.During the New Year, people like to set off firecrackers.
Common words: 鞭炮 (biān pào)、马后炮 (mǎ hòu pào)、大炮 (dà pào)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "cannon"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "cannon", including 炮 (pào), 炮 (pào). Study pinyin, English meanings, traditional forms, common words, and examples.
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "cannon" covers 2 different Chinese characters — 炮 (pào), 炮 (pào) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 2 characters happen to share the reading pào, so lean on the words and written forms to tell them apart. The example sentences further down show how 炮 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 炮 pàocannon; gun; firecracker; gun; cannonUseful words: 鞭炮, 马后炮
- 炮 pàocannon; gun; firecracker; gun; cannonUseful words: 鞭炮, 马后炮
Common words for these 2 "cannon" characters
Anchor each of these 2 characters in a word you can picture — start with 炮 (pào) — so "cannon" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
鞭炮biān pàofirecrackers; string of small firecrackers马后炮mǎ hòu pào(Chinese chess) moving the cannon after moving the horse away; (fig.) a useless action or comment; sth done after it's too late大炮dà pàobig gun; cannon; artillery; one who talks big鞭炮biān pàofirecrackers; string of small firecrackers马后炮mǎ hòu pào(Chinese chess) moving the cannon after moving the horse away; (fig.) a useless action or comment; sth done after it's too late大炮dà pàobig gun; cannon; artillery; one who talks big
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 2 ways to say "cannon".
炮 pào — cannon; gun; firecracker; gun; cannon
过年的时候，人们喜欢放鞭炮。Guò nián de shí hou, rén men xǐ huan fàng biān pào.During the New Year, people like to set off firecrackers.
Common words: 鞭炮 (biān pào)、马后炮 (mǎ hòu pào)、大炮 (dà pào)
All 2 characters
Open 炮、炮 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.