核 (hé): pit, stone, nucleus
核 (hé) is a Chinese character meaning “pit.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 木 (semantic) and 亥 (phonetic). It ranks #828 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 核 tree. Its radical form 木 (tree) appears in many related characters such as 本 (běn, (bound form) root), 机 (jī, machine, opportunity), 条 (tiáo, strip).
Definitions
- pit
- stone
- nucleus
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 核 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 核
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 核弹 | hé dàn | nuclear warhead |
| 核对 | hé duì | to check |
| 核实 | hé shí | to verify |
| 核查 | hé chá | to examine |
| 核桃 | hé tao | walnut |
| 核电站 | hé diàn zhàn | nuclear power plant |
| 审核 | shěn hé | to audit |
| 核能 | hé néng | nuclear energy |
| 核子 | hé zǐ | nuclear |
| 肺结核 | fèi jié hé | tuberculosis |
| 考核 | kǎo hé | to examine |
| 地核 | dì hé | core of the earth (geology) |
| 核弹头 | hé dàn tóu | nuclear reentry vehicle |
| 核武 | hé wǔ | nuclear weapon |
| 内核 | nèi hé | core (of a fruit) |
核 appears in 100 compound words: 63 as the first character, 36 as the last, and 1 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 核 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (5)
Example Sentences
爷爷在门前种了一棵核苗,现在已经长得很高了。
yé yé zài mén qián zhǒng le yī kē hé miáo , xiàn zài yǐ jīng cháng dé hěn gāo le .
Grandpa planted a walnut sapling by the door, and now it has grown very tall.
阿曼:美伊26日再次瑞士谈判 伊朗外长:核问题仍可能外交解决
ā 曼 : měi yī 2 6 rì zài cì ruì shì tán pàn yī lǎng wài cháng : hé wèn tí réng kě néng wài jiāo jiě jué
Oman: The United States and Iran held talks again in Switzerland on the 26th Iranian Foreign Minister: The nuclear issue may still be resolved diplomatically
...洲新车累积销量突破百万辆”!电动化布局成核心动能
. . . zhōu xīn chē lěi jī xiāo liàng tū pò bǎi wàn liàng ! diàn dòng huà bù jú chéng hé xīn dòng néng
... The cumulative sales of new cars in the continent exceeded one million units"! Electrification layout has become the core driving force
...称若收到伊朗详细方案美方准备再与伊方举行核谈判
. . . chèn ruò shōu dào yī lǎng xiáng xì fāng àn měi fāng zhǔn bèi zài yǔ yī fāng jǔ háng hé tán pàn
... It said that if it receives Iran's detailed plan, the United States is ready to hold nuclear negotiations with Iran again
食八宝饭误吞枣核 62岁翁肚大如孕妇
shí bā bǎo fàn wù tūn zǎo hé 6 2 suì wēng dù dà rú yùn fù
Eating eight treasure rice and mistakenly swallowing jujube kernels, the 62-year-old man's belly is as big as a pregnant woman
北京海淀:春晚同款机器人返场,硬核科技“打开”庙会
běi jīng hǎi diàn : chūn wǎn tóng kuǎn jī qì rén fǎn chǎng , yìng hé kē jì dǎ kāi miào huì
Beijing Haidian: The same robot returns to the Spring Festival Gala, and hard-core technology "opens" the temple fair
核战争将会为人类带来灭亡。
Hézhàn zhēng jiānghuì wéirén lèi dàilái mièwáng.
A nuclear war will bring about the destruction of mankind.
他用牙齿咬碎了核桃。
Tāyòng yáchǐ yǎo suì le hétao.
He cracked the walnut with his teeth.
汤姆试图敲碎一颗核桃而不损坏果仁。
Tāngmǔ shìtú qiāo suì yī kē hétao ér bù sǔnhuài guǒrén.
Tom tried to crack a walnut without damaging its kernel.
我们所有的人都想除掉核子武器。
Wǒmen suǒyǒu de rén dōu xiǎng chúdiào hézǐ wǔqì.
All of us would like to get rid of nuclear weapons.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 核 (hé) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 核 and 该?
How many strokes does 核 have?
What is the radical of 核?
What are the components of 核?
What are common words containing 核?
What characters sound the same as 核 (hé)?
Is 核 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 核 with real-time feedback
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