How to Write 壕 (háo) — Meaning “trench / ditch”

Imagine a "hero" (豪) digging a trench in the earth (土) to protect his team. The word "豪" sounds like "howl," and you can picture a wolf howling from a trench. This connects the sound and meaning to the shape of the character.

Make sure to write the left radical 土 with a short lower horizontal stroke, and keep it narrower than the right side. The right part 豪 has 14 strokes: first the top dot and horizontal, then 口, then a 豕 component with a left hook and four strokes. A common mistake is to write the 豕 too wide or forget the dot on top.

壕 means trench or ditch, while 墀 (chí) means a stone step or porch, and 增 (zēng) means to increase or add. Visually, 墀 has the right component 犀 (rhinoceros), and 增 has 曾 (once/level), so the right sides are completely different. Only 壕 has the 豪 component and the meaning of a ditch.

壕 is most common in military terms like 战壕 (battle trench) and general words like 壕沟 (ditch or trench). It also appears in the historical place name 石壕, famous from the Tang dynasty poem "石壕吏" (The Stone Trench Official) by Du Fu, which describes the suffering of common people.

Common words containing 壕 include: 壕沟 (háo gōu) — trench / ditch; 战壕 (zhàn háo) — Trench; 石壕 (shí háo) — stone trench.