肋 (lèi): (bound form) rib
肋 (lèi) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) rib.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of ⺼ (semantic) and 力 (phonetic). It ranks #2419 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 肋 flesh. Its radical form 肉 (meat) appears in many related characters such as 能 (néng, can), 肩 (jiān, shoulder), 胸 (xiōng, chest).
Definitions
- (bound form) rib
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 肋 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 肋骨noun | lèi gǔ | rib |
| 两肋插刀phrase | liǎng lèi chā dāo | (lit.) to take knives in both sides (idiom) |
| 肋间肌noun | lèi jiān jī | intercostal muscle |
| 鸡肋noun | jī lèi | chicken rib |
| 加里肋亚海 | jiā lǐ lèi yà hǎi | Sea of Galilee |
| 加里肋亚 | jiā lǐ lèi yà | Galilee |
| 加利肋亚 | jiā lì lèi yà | Galilee (in biblical Palestine) |
| 安德肋 | ān dé lèi | Andrew (Catholic transliteration) |
| 肋眼 | lèi yǎn | rib-eye steak |
| 季肋区 | jì lèi qū | (anatomy) hypochondriac region |
| 肋木 | lèi mù | (gymnastics) wall bars |
| 沅江九肋 | yuán jiāng jiǔ lèi | rare talent |
| 季肋 | jì lèi | (anatomy) the floating ribs |
| 软肋noun | ruǎn lèi | (anatomy) costal cartilage |
| 凯撒肋雅 | kǎi sā lèi yǎ | Caesarea (town in Israel, between Tel Aviv and Haifa) |
肋 appears in 16 compound words: 25 as the first character, 38 as the last, and 38 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
学习的过程中就受了点伤,裂了两条肋骨。
xué xí de guò chéng zhōng jiù shòu le diǎn shāng , liè le liǎng tiáo lèi gǔ .
I sustained a minor injury while studying—I cracked two ribs.
刚开始我觉得这功能有点鸡肋。
gāng kāi shǐ wǒ jué dé zhè gōng néng yǒu diǎn jī lèi .
At first, I thought this feature was a bit useless.
鸡肋、没必要加价 大屏娱乐、联网影音、语音控制 。
jī lèi , méi bì yào jiā jià dà píng yú lè , lián wǎng yǐng yīn , yǔ yīn kòng zhì .
A waste of money; no need to pay extra. Large-screen entertainment, streaming media, and voice control.
谁能将自身优势精准打在对手软肋上、牢牢守住防守底线,谁就能掌握比赛主动。
shéi néng jiāng zì shēn yōu shì jīng zhǔn dǎ zài duì shǒu ruǎn lèi shàng , láo láo shǒu zhù fáng shǒu dǐ xiàn , shéi jiù néng zhǎng wò bǐ sài zhǔ dòng .
Whoever can precisely exploit their opponent’s weaknesses with their own strengths and firmly hold their defensive line will take control of the game.
这其实暴露了所有地震预警系统的软肋:速度和精度都是此消彼长、矛和盾的关系。
zhè qí shí bào lù le suǒ yǒu dì zhèn yù jǐng xì tǒng de ruǎn lèi : sù dù hé jīng dù dōu shì cǐ xiāo bǐ cháng , máo hé dùn de guān xì .
This actually exposes the Achilles' heel of all earthquake early-warning systems: speed and accuracy are in a trade-off relationship, much like a sword and a shield.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the ⺼ (flesh) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 肋 (lèi) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 肋 and 历?
How many strokes does 肋 have?
What is the radical of 肋?
What are the components of 肋?
What are common words containing 肋?
Is 肋 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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