橡皮 (xiàng pí) — rubber (the material); eraser | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

In everyday speech, 橡皮 usually means 'eraser' (擦铅笔字用的). It can also mean the rubber material, but 橡胶 is the standard word for raw rubber.

noun

rubber (the material)eraser

Measure word · 块

Examples

，。
Qiān bǐ xiě cuò le, wǒ yòng xiàng pí cā diào.
I wrote wrong with the pencil, so I erased it with an eraser.
橡皮，。
Zhè zhǒng xiàng pí de tán xìng hěn hǎo, shì hé zuò lún tāi.
This kind of rubber has great elasticity and is suitable for making tires.
橡皮。
Qǐng bāng wǒ mǎi yí kuài xiàng pí.
Please help me buy an eraser.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

橡xiàngrubber tree

橡 names the rubber tree, and 皮 names skin or covering, giving rubber or an eraser.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

皮 shows a hand pulling fur off an animal pelt, with the pelt drawn at the upper left.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 HSK 2.0 Level 5 Classroom & Study Materials & Substances

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