How to Write 飙 (biāo) — Meaning “Whirlwind; gale; to speed”

Imagine three dogs (猋) running so fast that they create a whirlwind (风). The three dots on top of the right side look like three dogs' heads chasing each other in a circle.

The radical 风 on the left should be narrow, while the right part 猋 has three 犬 (dog) components stacked: the top two are smaller and the bottom one is larger. A common mistake is making the wind radical too wide or misaligning the three dogs.

飙 has the wind radical and means whirlwind or speed, while 飖 (yáo) means drifting or wafting gently. 飘 (piāo) also means to float or drift and uses 票 (ticket) instead of 猋 on the right. Visually, 飙 has three dogs on the right, distinguishing it from the others.

飙 is used for high speed or sudden increases, like 飙升 (to soar or rocket up) and 飙车 (to drag race or speed in a car). It often appears in news about fast-growing prices or dangerous driving. Culturally, 飙车 is linked to illegal street racing events.

Common words containing 飙 include: 飙车 (biāo chē) — To drag race; to speed in a car; 飙升 (biāo shēng) — To soar; to rocket up; 狂飙 (kuáng biāo) — Hurricane or violent wind..