調
tiáodiào HSK3

adjust, tune

调 (調) tiáo frequency
adjust verb
to regulate or change settings to a desired level

请把电视音量调小一点。

qǐng bǎ diàn​shì yīn​liàng tiáo xiǎo yī​diǎn.

Please turn down the TV volume a bit.

harmonize verb
to reconcile, blend, or make elements fit together harmoniously

这几种颜色调得很匀。

zhè jǐ zhǒng yán​sè tiáo de hěn yún.

These colors are blended very evenly.

season verb
to add flavoring or spices to food

你可以根据口味自己调一下酱汁。

nǐ kě​yǐ gēn​jù kǒu​wèi zì​jǐ tiáo yī​xià jiàng​zhī.

You can adjust the sauce yourself according to your taste.

provoke verb
to incite, instigate, or tease someone

他在背后多方调唆，惹出了不少麻烦。

tā zài bèi​hòu duō​fāng tiáo​suō, rě​chū le bù​shǎo má​fan.

He instigated trouble in many ways behind the scenes, causing a lot of problems.

调 (調) diào
transfer verb
to transfer or move personnel, such as troops or employees, to a different location or position

他被调到总部工作了。

tā bèi diào dào zǒng​bù gōng​zuò le.

He was transferred to work at the headquarters.

melody noun
a tune, musical key, or accent; the particular tone of a person's speech, argument, or view

这首歌的调太高了，我唱不上去。

zhè shǒu gē de diào tài gāo le, wǒ chàng bù shàng​qù.

The key of this song is too high for me to sing.

investigate verb
to investigate, research, or enquire into the details of a matter

为了确认信息，他特地调看了当时的通话记录。

wèi​le què​rèn xìn​xī, tā tè​dì diào kàn le dāng​shí de tōng​huà jì​lù.

To confirm the information, he specifically checked the call records from that time.

Frequency
Character
Written text
400th most common 549.8 per million
Movie subtitles
473rd most common 310.4 per million appears in 69% of films
Word
Movie subtitles
53.7 per million appears in 19% of films
Written text
92.0 per million

Details
HSK 3.0
Level 3
Simplified
调
Strokes
15
Unicode
U+8ABF

Sources
Definitions
CC-CEDICT
Frequency data
MTSU Chinese text computingSUBTLEX-CHBCC Corpus (BLCU)