虫 (chóng): insect
虫 (chóng) is a Chinese character meaning “insect.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 中 (phonetic). It ranks #1279 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 虫 is a compound character. Its radical form 虫 (insect) appears in many related characters such as 蛋 (dàn, egg), 虽 (suī, although), 蛇 (shé, snake).
Definitions
- insect
Etymology & Origin
pictophoneticThis character is a compound form.
Stroke Order
Practice writing 虫 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 虫
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 寄生虫 | jì shēng chóng | parasite (biology) |
| 臭虫 | chòu chóng | bedbug (Cimex lectularius) |
| 害虫 | hài chóng | injurious insect |
| 甲虫 | jiǎ chóng | beetle |
| 懒虫 | lǎn chóng | (coll.) lazybones |
| 幼虫 | yòu chóng | (entomology) larva |
| 蠕虫 | rú chóng | worm |
| 爬虫 | pá chóng | reptile |
| 瓢虫 | piáo chóng | ladybug |
| 蝗虫 | huáng chóng | locust |
| 蛆虫 | qū chóng | maggot |
| 毛虫 | máo chóng | caterpillar |
| 蚜虫 | yá chóng | greenfly (Aphis spp.) |
| 毒虫 | dú chóng | poisonous insect (or spider etc) |
| 蛀虫 | zhù chóng | insect that eats into wood, books, clothes etc |
虫 appears in 100 compound words: 15 as the first character, 81 as the last, and 4 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 虫 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (9)
seven-spot ladybird; seven-spotted ladybug (Coccinella septempunctata)
Example Sentences
夏天蚊虫很多，出门要喷驱蚊水。
Xiàtiān wénchóng hěn duō, chūmén yào pēn qūwén shuǐ.
There are many mosquitoes in summer; spray mosquito repellent when going out.
...就金枪鱼异物事件声明:涉事批次未检出寄生虫
. . . jiù jīn qiāng yú yì wù shì jiàn shēng míng : shè shì pī cì wèi jiǎn chū jì shēng chóng
...Statement on the Tuna Foreign Object Incident: No Parasites Detected in the Affected Batch
齐白石草虫作品首次全品类展出
qí bái shí cǎo chóng zuò pǐn shǒu cì quán pǐn lèi zhǎn chū
First Comprehensive Exhibition of Qi Baishi’s Insect Paintings
蔚来萤火虫Y2K特别版上市:13.78万元起,3月...
yù lái 萤 huǒ chóng Y 2 K tè bié bǎn shàng shì : 1 3 . 7 8 wàn yuán qǐ , 3 yuè . . .
NIO Firefly Y2K Special Edition Launches: Starting at 137,800 yuan, March...
...DARA涉毒! 控诉惨遭设局:把我当成毒虫
. . . D A R A shè dú ! kòng sù cǎn zāo shè jú : bǎ wǒ dāng chéng dú chóng
... DARA is involved in drugs! The accusation was set up tragically: treat me like a poisonous insect
她腹部胀气 原来横结肠有鞭虫
tā fù bù zhàng qì yuán lái héng jié cháng yǒu biān chóng
She had bloating in her abdomen and it turned out that there were whipworms in her transverse colon
昆虫破蛹而出变成成虫。
Kūnchóng pòyǒng ér chū biànchéng chéngchóng.
The insect grew out of a pupa into an imago.
凯教授已研究昆虫四十年。
Kǎi jiàoshòu yǐ yánjiū kūnchóng sìshí nián.
Professor Kai has been studying insects for forty years.
这种昆虫在英语中叫什么？
Zhèzhǒng kūnchóng zài Yīngyǔ zhōng jiào shénme?
What do you call this insect in English?
他对收集昆虫很有兴趣。
Tā duì shōují kūnchóng hěn yǒuxìngqù.
He has an interest in collecting insects.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 虫 (chóng) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 虫 and 钟?
How many strokes does 虫 have?
What is the radical of 虫?
What are the components of 虫?
What are common words containing 虫?
What characters sound the same as 虫 (chóng)?
Is 虫 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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