Chinese symbol for “sweep”
扫
sǎo
Traditional: 掃
to sweep (with a brush or broom); to sweep away; to wipe out; to get rid of; to sweep (one's eyes etc) over; to scan
The closest CC-CEDICT match for sweep is 扫 (sǎo), defined as: to sweep (with a brush or broom); to sweep away; to wipe out; to get rid of; to sweep (one's eyes etc) over; to scan.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Traditional forms
Other Chinese words for “sweep”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 包揽 (包攬) | bāo lǎn | to take it all upon oneself; to undertake the whole task; (fig.) to sweep (all prizes etc) |
| 划拉 | huá la | to sweep; to brush away |
| 打扫 (打掃) | dǎ sǎo | to clean; to sweep |
| 席卷 (席捲) | xí juǎn | to engulf; to sweep |
| 掠 | lüè | to take over by force; to rob |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 扫.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 扫描 (掃描) | sǎo miáo | to scan |
| 打扫 (打掃) | dǎ sǎo | to clean; to sweep |
| 横扫 (橫掃) | héng sǎo | to sweep away; to sweep across |
| 扫除 (掃除) | sǎo chú | to clean; to clean up; to eliminate; to wipe out |
| 扫荡 (掃蕩) | sǎo dàng | (military) to mop up; to crack down on; to eradicate |
| 扫地 (掃地) | sǎo dì | to sweep the floor; (fig.) (of one's reputation etc) to reach rock bottom |
See also: Japanese symbol for “sweep”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.