被 (bèi): quilt, by
被 (bèi) is a Chinese character meaning “quilt, by.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 衤 (semantic) and 皮 (phonetic). It ranks #154 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 被 cloth. Its radical form 衤 (clothing) appears in many related characters such as 衣 (yī, clothing), 表 (biǎo, exterior surface), 装 (zhuāng, dress, install).
Definitions
- quilt, by
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 被 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 被
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 被捕 | bèi bǔ | to be arrested |
| 被告 | bèi gào | (law) the defendant |
| 被害人 | bèi hài rén | victim |
| 被告人 | bèi gào rén | defendant (in legal case) |
| 被害者 | bèi hài zhě | victim (of a wounding or murder) |
| 被单 | bèi dān | (bed) sheet |
| 被窝 | bèi wō | (traditional bedding) quilt wrapped around the body as a tube |
| 植被 | zhí bèi | vegetation |
| 被套 | bèi tào | duvet cover |
| 被褥 | bèi rù | bedding |
| 聪明反被聪明误 | cōng míng fǎn bèi cōng míng wù | (idiom) a clever person may become the victim of his own ingenuity |
| 棉被 | mián bèi | comforter |
| 被除数 | bèi chú shù | dividend (math.) |
| 被子植物 | bèi zǐ zhí wù | angiosperm (flowering plants with seed contained in a fruit) |
| 垫被 | diàn bèi | mattress |
被 appears in 54 compound words: 81 as the first character, 9 as the last, and 9 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 被 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
Example Sentences
被子需要经常晒晒太阳，这样可以杀菌除螨。
Bèizi xūyào jīngcháng shài shài tàiyáng, zhèyàng kěyǐ shājūn chú mǎn.
Quilts need to be sunned regularly to kill bacteria and remove mites.
山东济南网红巨型空飘鳌鱼被大风吹走,现场工作人员尝..
shān dōng jì nán wǎng hóng jù xíng kōng piāo 鳌 yú bèi dà fēng chuī zǒu , xiàn chǎng gōng zuò rén yuán cháng . .
Shandong Jinan Internet celebrity giant floating turtle was blown away by strong winds, and the on-site staff tasted:
杭州一步行街被指写错北宋诗人名字,“晁冲之”写成“..
háng zhōu yī bù háng jiē bèi zhǐ xiě cuò běi sòng shī rén míng zì , 晁 chōng zhī xiě chéng . .
A pedestrian street in Hangzhou was accused of writing the name of a Northern Song poet wrongly, "Chao Chongzhi" was written as "Chao Chongzhi", "Chao Chongzhi" was written as "Chao Chongzhi", "Chao Chongzhi" was written as "Chao Chongzhi"...
被抓现行!菲律宾海警在南海投放不明物体
bèi zhuā xiàn háng ! 菲 lǜ bīn hǎi jǐng zài nán hǎi tóu fàng bù míng wù tī
Caught in the act! Philippine Maritime Police Drop Unidentified Objects in South China Sea
谁被虹口新春美到了?中外游客:超出片,太震撼...
shéi bèi hóng kǒu xīn chūn měi dào le ? zhōng wài yóu kè chāo chū piān , tài zhèn hàn . . .
Who was captivated by Hongkou's Spring Festival beauty? Visitors from China and abroad: "Beyond words, utterly breathtaking..."
菲律宾海警在南海投放不明物体被抓现行,监控画面公布
菲 lǜ bīn hǎi jǐng zài nán hǎi tóu fàng bù míng wù tī bèi zhuā xiàn háng , jiān kòng huà miàn gōng bù
Philippine Coast Guard caught red-handed deploying unidentified objects in South China Sea; surveillance footage released
为什么汤姆没被捕？
Wèi shénme Tāngmǔ méi bèibǔ?
Why wasn't Tom arrested?
汤姆要被解雇了，不是吗？
Tāngmǔ yào bèi jiěgù le, bùshìma?
Tom is going to be fired, isn't he?
好痛！被门夹到手指了！
Hǎo tòng! Bèi mén jiā dào shǒuzhǐ le!
Ouch! My finger got caught in the door.
你害怕被炒鱿鱼吗？
Nǐ hàipà bèi chǎo yóuyú ma?
Are you afraid of being fired?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 被 (bèi) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 被 and 波?
How many strokes does 被 have?
What is the radical of 被?
What are the components of 被?
What are common words containing 被?
What characters sound the same as 被 (bèi)?
Is 被 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 被 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.