kōng

empty

air; sky; in vain

cave (穴) + work sound (工) = empty, hollow, sky

穴 is a cave or hollow — an arch of empty space with an opening. 工 mainly lends the sound kōng; the cave radical carries the sense of hollow emptiness that extends to sky, air, and futility.

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WorkPhonetic
CaveSemantic

瓶子是的,里面什么都没有。

píng zi shì kōng de, lǐ miàn shén me dōu méi yǒu。

The bottle is empty; there is nothing inside.

他努力了很久,却手而回。

tā nǔ lì le hěn jiǔ, què kōng shǒu ér huí。

He worked hard for a long time, yet returned empty-handed.

Words with 空

卖空

mài kōng

to sell short (finance)

闲空

xián kòng

idle

遁入空门

dùn rù kōng mén

to take refuge in religious life

达美航空

dá měi háng kōng

Delta Air Lines, Inc., airline headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia

那空沙旺

nà kōng shā wàng

Paknampho city, Thailand

镂空

lòu kōng

openwork

钻空子

zuān kòng zi

to take advantage of a loophole; to exploit an advantage; to seize the opportunity (esp. to do sth bad)

凿空

záo kōng

to open an aperture

长荣航空

cháng róng háng kōng

EVA Air, Taiwanese international airline

长空

cháng kōng

(literary) the vast sky

闯空门

chuǎng kōng mén

to break into a home when no one is there (to steal)

防空

fáng kōng

anti-aircraft defense

More characters with 穴

穿