壳 (qiào): (coll.) shell (of an egg, nut, crab etc), case, casing, housing (of a machine or device), (bound form) shell
壳 (qiào) is a Chinese character meaning “(coll.) shell (of an egg, nut, crab etc).” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 士 (structural) and 冗 (structural). It ranks #1912 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 壳 a shell discarded 冗 by a soldier 士. Its radical form 士 (scholar) appears in many related characters such as 声 (shēng, sound), 士 (shì, member of the senior ministerial class (old)), 壮 (zhuàng, Zhuang ethnic group of Guangxi, the PRC's second most numerous ethnic group).
Definitions
- (coll.) shell (of an egg, nut, crab etc)
- case
- casing
- housing (of a machine or device)
- (bound form) shell
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA shell discarded 冗 by a soldier 士
Decomposition: ⿱士冗 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 壳 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 弹壳 | dàn ké | ammunition case |
| 甲壳 | jiǎ qiào | carapace |
| 贝壳 | bèi ké | shell (of a mollusk) |
| 外壳 | wài ké | envelope |
| 空壳 | kōng ké | empty shell |
| 脑壳 | nǎo ké | (coll.) head |
| 躯壳 | qū qiào | the body (as opposed to the soul) |
| 地壳 | dì qiào | the Earth's crust |
| 卡壳 | qiǎ ké | (of a bullet or shell) to jam |
| 蛋壳 | dàn ké | eggshell |
| 硬壳 | yìng ké | crust |
| 壳牌 | qiào pái | see 殼牌公司|壳牌公司[Qiao4 pai2 gong1 si1] |
| 金蝉脱壳 | jīn chán tuō qiào | lit. the cicada sheds its carapace (idiom) |
| 安全壳 | ān quán ké | containment vessel |
| 谷壳 | gǔ ké | husk (of rice etc) |
壳 appears in 67 compound words: 10 as the first character, 60 as the last, and 30 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 壳 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (5)
to be able to escape from a (normally sticky) situation without other pertinent parties noticing it
to be able to escape from a (normally sticky) situation without other pertinent parties noticing it
Example Sentences
壳字虽然难写，但意思很有趣。
qiào zì suī rán nán xiě , dàn yì sī hěn yǒu qù .
The character for "shell" may be difficult to write, but its meaning is quite interesting.
《业绩》蚬壳电业(02381.HK)全年纯利948万...
yè jì 蚬 qiào diàn yè ( 0 2 3 8 1 . H K ) quán nián chún lì 9 4 8 wàn . . .
"Financial Results: Shell Power (02381.HK) Reports Annual Net Profit of 9.48 Million..."
...鸟 #商鸟 #商鸟veilance #软壳
. . . niǎo shāng niǎo shāng niǎo v e i l a n c e ruǎn qiào
...Bird #ShangNiao #ShangNiaoVeilance #SoftShell
...向中国出口价值3500万美元的M23型带壳腰果
. . . xiàng zhōng guó chū kǒu jià zhí 3 5 0 0 wàn měi yuán de M 2 3 xíng dài qiào yāo guǒ
...exported $35 million worth of M23 shelled cashews to China
大陆楼市低迷持续 “贝壳找房”净利跌逾两成
dà lù lóu shì dī mí chí xù bèi qiào zhǎo fáng jìng lì diē yú liǎng chéng
Mainland China's property market slump persists; "Beike" net profit drops by more than 20%
大头蛇被误认是毒蛇龟壳花 苗栗男遭蛇咬伤送医幸无大碍
dà tóu shé bèi wù rèn shì dú shé guī qiào huā miáo 栗 nán zāo shé yǎo shāng sòng yī xìng wú dà ài
The big-headed snake was mistaken for a poisonous snake turtle shell flower, and the Miaoli man was bitten by a snake and sent to the hospital, but fortunately, there was no serious problem
蜗牛壳是螺旋形的.
Wōniúké shì luóxuánxíng de.
A snail's shell is spiral in form.
在我手里的是一个贝壳化石。
Zài wǒ shǒulǐ de shì yī gè bèiké huàshí.
What I have in my hand is a fossil seashell.
我在海滩上发现了一个漂亮的贝壳。
Wǒ zài hǎitān shàng fāxiàn le yī gè piàoliang de bèiké.
I found a beautiful shell on the shore.
地上覆盖着积雪，冻成了又硬又厚的壳。
Dìshang fùgài zhe jīxuě, dòng chéngle yòu yìng yòu hòu de qiào.
The snow lay on the ground, frozen into a thick, hard crust.
Character Family
士 Radical Family — Characters sharing the scholar radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 壳 (qiào) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 壳 have?
What is the radical of 壳?
What are the components of 壳?
What are common words containing 壳?
What characters sound the same as 壳 (qiào)?
Is 壳 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 壳 with real-time feedback
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