(): crack, crevice, gap or interval

() is a Chinese character meaning “crack.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (structural), (structural), (structural) and (structural). It ranks #2341 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, a crack 日 dividing two things 小; 阝 provides the pronunciation. Its radical form (mound) appears in many related characters such as (, (specifier) that), (dōu, all), (yuàn, courtyard).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. crack
  2. crevice
  3. gap or interval

Etymology & Origin

ideographicA crack 日 dividing two things 小; 阝 provides the pronunciation

Decomposition: ⿰阝⿱小⿱日小 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

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
nounfèng xìsmall crack
nounkòng xìcrack
nounjiàn xìinterval
nounliè xìgap
nounxià xìgap
nounxián xìhostility
verbchéng xìto seize an opportunity
kǒng xìpore (geology)
phrasebái jū guò xìa white steed flits past a crack (idiom)
yún xì guāngcrepuscular rays
qì xìair vent
nounbīng xìcrevasse
chóu xìfeud
guān xìn sì xìlit. to look for holes, and observe gaps (idiom)
xì fèngaperture
18
Total compounds
6
As first character
89
As last character
6
As middle character

appears in 18 compound words: 6 as the first character, 89 as the last, and 6 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.

féng
0.6621,126 co-occurrences
chèn
0.534556 co-occurrences
xián
0.5211,192 co-occurrences
kǒng
0.5031,468 co-occurrences
liè
0.4841,084 co-occurrences
jiān
0.4593,574 co-occurrences
kōng
0.4543,454 co-occurrences
0.435168 co-occurrences
zhá
0.417140 co-occurrences
0.405240 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

báijūguòxìHSK 7+

swiftness of the lapse of time; fleeting of time; in the twinkling of an eye

phrase

Showing 1 of 2 idioms containing .

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个字的意思与它的部首有关。

zhè gě xì zì de yì sī yú tā de bù shǒu yǒu guān .

The meaning of the character "隙" is related to its radical.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

宁波余姚菜市场摊主陈慧,于摆摊谋生的间伏案写作。

nìng bō yú 姚 cài shì chǎng tān zhǔ chén huì , yú bǎi tān móu shēng de jiān xì fú àn xiě zuò .

Chen Hui, a vendor at the Yuyao Market in Ningbo, writes at her desk in between running her market stall.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

他们成功研发出了一种有兼容性、耐候性和流动性的材料,适宜于微小裂灌浆和残缺补型。

tā men chéng gōng yán fā chū le yī zhǒng yǒu jiān róng xìng , nài hòu xìng hé liú dòng xìng de cái liào , shì yí yú wēi xiǎo liè xì guàn jiāng hé cán quē bǔ xíng .

They have successfully developed a material that is compatible, weather-resistant, and fluid, making it suitable for grouting microcracks and repairing damaged molds.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

菜市场就像岩壁上的青松,能在碎石缝中深扎根系。

cài shì chǎng jiù xiàng yán bì shàng de qīng sōng , néng zài suì shí féng xì zhōng shēn zhā gēn xì .

The farmers' market is like a pine tree on a cliff face, able to sink its roots deep into the cracks between the rocks.

中国新闻网·生活Aug 2026

比如西兰花、菜花、木耳都不太好清洗,缝中还可能有泥土和虫卵。

bǐ rú xī lán huā , cài huā , mù ěr dōu bù tài hǎo qīng xǐ , féng xì zhōng hái kě néng yǒu ní tǔ hé chóng luǎn .

For example, broccoli, cauliflower, and wood ear mushrooms can be difficult to wash, and there may be dirt and insect eggs in their crevices.

EttodayFeb 2026

...东男情绪不稳坐初来桥边护栏 警耐心沟通趁拉回桥面

. . . dōng nán qíng xù bù wěn zuò chū lái qiáo biān hù lán jǐng nài xīn gōu tōng chèn xì lā huí qiáo miàn

... Dongnan was emotionally unstable, sitting on the guardrail by the bridge when he first came, and the police patiently communicated and took advantage of the opportunity to pull back the bridge deck

Tatoeba

请小心月台与车厢之间的空

Qǐng xiǎoxīn yuètái yǔ chēxiāng zhījiān de kòngxì.

Please mind the gap between the train and the platform.

Tatoeba

在伦敦地铁,上车时会有「注意间」提醒。

Zài Lúndūn dìtiě, shàngchē shí huì yǒu 「 zhùyì jiànxì 」 tíxǐng.

In the London underground there is a warning to "mind the gap" when boarding the train.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 隙 (xì) mean in Chinese?
隙 (xì) primarily means "crack." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2341 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 隙 have?
隙 is written with 12 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 隙?
The radical associated with 隙 is 阝 (mound). This radical appears in many characters related to mound.
What are the components of 隙?
隙 is composed of: 阝 (structural), 小 (structural), 日 (structural), 小 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰阝⿱小⿱日小 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 隙?
Common words with 隙 include: 缝隙 (fèng xì, "small crack"); 空隙 (kòng xì, "crack"); 间隙 (jiàn xì, "interval"); 裂隙 (liè xì, "gap"); 罅隙 (xià xì, "gap"). There are over 18 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 隙 (xì)?
Several characters share the pronunciation xì: 西 (the West), 系 (to connect), 息 (breath), 希 (to hope), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 隙 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 隙 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken 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.