(jiā): to press from either side, to place in between, to sandwich

(jiā) is a Chinese character meaning “to press from either side.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (structural) and (structural). It ranks #1741 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, a person 夫 stuck between two others 丷. Its radical form (big) appears in many related characters such as (, big), (tiān, day), (tài, highest).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to press from either side
  2. to place in between
  3. to sandwich

Etymology & Origin

ideographicA person 夫 stuck between two others 丷

Decomposition: ⿻夫丷 (layout: overlay)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6

Practice writing with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
jiā kè(loanword) jacket
wén jiàn jiāfolder
pí jiāwallet
jiā ziclip
jiā xīnto fill with stuffing (e.g. in cooking)
dàn jiāammunition clip
fà jiāhair clip
jiā bǎnwooden boards used to press sth together
jiā cénghollow layer between two solid layers
jiā záto mix together (disparate substances)
qián jiāwallet
jiā jīpincer attack
jiā dàito carry within it
jiā zhú táooleander (Nerium indicum)
jiā fèngcrack
69
Total compounds
65
As first character
25
As last character
10
As middle character

appears in 69 compound words: 65 as the first character, 25 as the last, and 10 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

qián
0.542408 co-occurrences
céng
0.4965,616 co-occurrences
0.4842,886 co-occurrences
shā
0.4821,530 co-occurrences
0.4574,923 co-occurrences
féng
0.455480 co-occurrences
mài
0.439852 co-occurrences
gōu
0.433912 co-occurrences
táo
0.4241,374 co-occurrences
bǐng
0.418281 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (4)

hútáojiāziHSK 6+

nutcracker

noun
jiā dào huān yíngHSK 6+

to line the streets in welcome

phrase
jiā qī jiā bāHSK 6+

completely mixed up; in a muddle

phrase
jiāxīn bǐnggānHSK 6+

cookie sandwich; a middleman who has to tolerate frustration from both sides

noun

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

我在字典里查到了字的详细解释。

wǒ zài zì diǎn lǐ chá dào le gā zì de xiáng xì xiè shì .

I looked up the detailed explanation of "sandwiching words" in the dictionary.

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

中钢员工餐厅年销百万颗月饼、自助餐75元到饱...“亏钱也要卖”的美味秘密

zhōng gāng yuán gōng cān tīng nián xiāo bǎi wàn kē yuè bǐng , zì zhù cān 7 5 yuán jiā dào bǎo . . . kuī qián yě yāo mài de měi wèi mì mì

China Steel employee restaurant sells millions of mooncakes a year, and the buffet is 75 yuan all-you-can-eat... The delicious secret of "selling even if you lose money"

TvbsFeb 2026

...来了!明起连下7天 这天恐“雷雨+强风”

. . . lái le ! míng qǐ lián xià 7 tiān zhè tiān kǒng léi yǔ qiáng fēng jiā jī

... Here it comes! Tomorrow will be raining for 7 consecutive days, and this day is likely to be hit by "thunderstorms + strong winds"

EttodayFeb 2026

刮刮乐“心玄学”秒中万元!网友朝圣 员工揭内幕:...

guā guā lè jiā xīn xuán xué miǎo zhōng wàn yuán ! wǎng yǒu cháo shèng yuán gōng jiē nèi mù : . . .

Scratch card "sandwich metaphysics" won 10,000 yuan in seconds! Netizens pilgrimage employees reveal the inside story:...

鉅亨網 - 財經新聞、全球指數、股市報價、商品行情、理財投資Feb 2026

...大增 小企业陷“预付税”与“退款难”双重

. . . dà zēng xiǎo qǐ yè xiàn yù fù shuì yǔ tuì kuǎn nán shuāng chóng jiā jī

... Small businesses are trapped in the double attack of "prepaid tax" and "difficult refund"

WorldjournalFeb 2026

...点 三大指数跌逾1% AI冲击与关税变数

. . . diǎn sān dà zhǐ shǔ diē yú 1 A I chōng jī yǔ guān shuì biàn shǔ jiā jī

... The three major indexes fell more than 1%, and the AI shock and tariff variables were hit

Tatoeba

汤姆把克挂在大厅衣柜里。

Tāngmǔ bǎ jiākè guà zài dàtīng yīguì lǐ.

Tom hung his jacket in the hall closet.

Tatoeba

蒙古被俄罗斯和中国所包

Měnggǔ bèi Éluósī hé Zhōngguó suǒ bāo jiā.

Mongolia is sandwiched between Russia and China.

Tatoeba

这款木质皮由一整块胡桃木制成。

Zhè kuǎn mùzhì píjiā yóu yī zhěng kuài hútáo mùzhì chéng.

This wood wallet is crafted from a single piece of walnut.

Tatoeba

汤姆找不到锅铲了,只好用子为煎饼翻面。

Tāngmǔ zhǎobudào guōchǎn le, zhǐhǎo yòng jiāzi wèi jiānbǐng fān miàn.

Unable to find a spatula, Tom used tongs to flip the pancakes.

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 夹 (jiā) mean in Chinese?
夹 (jiā) primarily means "to press from either side." It is classified as HSK Level 6, making it an advanced character. It ranks #1741 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 夹 have?
夹 is written with 6 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 夹?
The radical associated with 夹 is 大 (big). This radical appears in many characters related to big.
What are the components of 夹?
夹 is composed of: 夫 (structural), 丷 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿻夫丷 with a overlay layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 夹?
Common words with 夹 include: 夹克 (jiā kè, "(loanword) jacket"); 文件夹 (wén jiàn jiā, "folder"); 皮夹 (pí jiā, "wallet"); 夹子 (jiā zi, "clip"); 夹心 (jiā xīn, "to fill with stuffing (e.g. in cooking)"). There are over 69 compound words containing this character.
Is 夹 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 夹 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.