蟹肉 (xiè ròu) — crab meat | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

crab meat

Measure word · 块

Examples

蟹肉。
Wǒ diǎn le yí fèn xiè ròu shā lā.
I ordered a crab meat salad.
蟹肉。
Mā ma mǎi le yì xiē xiè ròu huí jiā zuò fàn.
Mom bought some crab meat to go home and cook.
蟹肉。
Zhè ge xiè ròu tāng fēi cháng hǎo hē.
This crab meat soup is very tasty.

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.

The parts give 蟹 crab and 肉 meat, naming crab meat.

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.

解虫蟹

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

解

解jiě蟹xiè

Same sound today

蟹 pairs 虫, which points to a creature, with 解, which gives the sound.

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

The original shape of 肉 showed ribs of an animal’s torso, or simply a slice of meat.

Appears in

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