核 (hé) — pit, stone (of fruit); nucleus (of an atom or cell); core, kernel (figurative, often in 核心)
Definition
A compact, technical/abstract word for 'core' — used for the pit of a fruit, the nucleus of a cell/atom, and the figurative center of an issue. More technical than 核心 ('core' as a concept) and narrower than 心 ('heart/center' in general).
noun
pitstone (of fruit)nucleus (of an atom or cell)corekernel (figurative, often in 核心)
Measure word · 个
Easily confused
- 咳kélook-aliketo cough
- 和hésound-alike(conjunction) and
- 该gāilook-alike(modal verb) should, ought to; used to indicate strong necessity or likelihood
- 和hésound-alikegentle, mild; harmonious
- 刻kèlook-alike(classifier) quarter (of an hour); a short moment
- 何hésound-alike(interrogative pronoun in fixed expressions) how, what, why (in 为何, 如何, 何时, etc.)
Examples
- ，核。Chī le táo zi yǐ hòu, bǎ hé rēng diào.After eating a peach, throw away the pit.
- 。Xì bāo hé kòng zhì zhe xì bāo de shēng zhǎng.The cell nucleus controls the cell's growth.
- 。Zhè ge wèn tí shì huì yì de hé xīn.This issue is the core of the meeting.
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