虾米 (xiā mǐ) — dried, shelled small shrimp (used as a cooking… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

driedshelled small shrimp (used as a cooking ingredient)

Measure word · 个

Examples

虾米，。
Zhè dào cài fàng le yì xiē xiā mǐ, wèi dào hěn xiān.
This dish has some dried shrimp in it, and it tastes very savory.
虾米，。
Wǒ mǎi le bàn jīn xiā mǐ, dǎ suàn zuò chǎo fàn.
I bought half a catty of dried shrimp, planning to make fried rice.
虾米，。
Xiān bǎ xiā mǐ pào ruǎn, zài hé qīng cài yì qǐ chǎo.
First soak the dried shrimp until soft, then stir-fry them with vegetables.

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.

虾 (shrimp) and 米 (grain) together name tiny shrimp.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 蝦; 虾 is its simplified writing.

虫叚蝦

Meaning part形符xíngfú

虫虫chónginsect

Sound part声符shēngfú

叚

叚jiǎ蝦xiā

Same sound today

In the traditional form 蝦, 虫 is the insect part and 叚 is the sound part; the simplified 虾 is a later abbreviation.

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

米 is a picture of rice kernels without husk, with the horizontal stroke as a bamboo sieve. It is unrelated to similar-looking grain characters.

Appears in

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