BAO is valid in Collins, not in North America — 5 points
It depends on the list you play by. BAO is in Collins, used in the UK and most of the world, but it is not in the North American lists — so in a US or Canadian game an opponent can challenge it off the board. Worth 5 points. Words with Friends does not accept it either.
Which word lists accept BAO?
| Official Scrabble Players DictionaryUSA, Canada, Thailand | Not listed |
|---|---|
| Official Tournament and Club Word ListUSA, Canada, Thailand | Not listed |
| Collins Scrabble WordsEnglish in most countries | Valid |
| Words with FriendsZynga word list | Not listed |
Word power: 34 / 100
Our own measure of how useful BAO is to know. It scores 5 from 3 tiles, takes 1 hook, and its letters make up 6.3% of the bag. How this number is calculated
Hooks for BAO
Front hooks — 0
None.
Back hooks — 1
baosChecked against OSPD, TWL, CSW, WWF. Takes an S, so it hooks onto plurals easily.
How BAO scores
Face value of the 3 tiles in BAO, before any board multiplier.
Tiles you need
| Letter | Needed | In the bag |
|---|---|---|
| b | 1 | 2 |
| a | 1 | 9 |
| o | 1 | 8 |
Drawing exactly these 3 tiles as an opening rack: 1 in 1,123.
What stands out about BAO
- The same 3 tiles also spell 2 other words, so the rack is worth re-reading before you play it.
Counted from the four word lists we hold, not taken from anywhere else. How we calculate things
What does BAO mean in Scrabble?
noun
A Chinese steamed bun, usually with a filling of meat or sweet paste.
Bao names the dough rather than what is inside it: a soft white bun raised twice and cooked in steam, so it never browns. The word covers both the round stuffed kind and the folded kind that opens like a wallet, and English menus use it for either without much consistency. It has travelled far enough that a bao is now sold from vans at festivals miles from any other Chinese food.
How BAO is used
Countable: a bao, two bao or baos. Often used attributively in bao bun, which repeats itself.
- The bao came three to a basket and steaming.
- She folded the bao around the pork and passed it over.
- A good bao should tear with one hand.
- They sell bao from a van outside the station.
- The bao dough is raised twice before it goes in the steamer.
- He ate four bao and claimed he had eaten two.
Written for this site: 1 meaning of BAO and 6 example sentences, not copied from a published dictionary.
Anagrams of BAO
The 3 tiles of BAO in a different order — 2 found.
Words starting with BAO
3 longer words begin with BAO.
Words ending in BAO
1 words end in BAO. Useful as a back hook: play BAO onto a word already on the board.
Words with BAO inside
1 words contain BAO in the middle. Words that start with BAO are listed separately above, so nothing is repeated.
Shorter words from the letters in BAO
Common questions about BAO
- Is BAO valid in Words with Friends?
- No. Words with Friends keeps its own list, separate from the Scrabble dictionaries, and BAO is not in it.
- How many points is BAO worth?
- BAO is worth 5 points in Scrabble and 6 points in Words with Friends.
- What does BAO mean?
- A Chinese steamed bun, usually with a filling of meat or sweet paste.
- What letters can be added to BAO?
- BAO takes 1 hook: 0 in front and 1 at the end.
Every word you can build from the 3 letters of BAO:
Open BAO in the Word Finder