峡 (xiá): gorge
峡 (xiá) is a Chinese character meaning “gorge.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 山 (structural) and 夹 (structural). It ranks #1711 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 峡 the space between 夹 two mountains 山; 夹 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 山 (mountain) appears in many related characters such as 山 (shān, mountain), 岁 (suì, years old), 岸 (àn, bank).
Definitions
- gorge
Etymology & Origin
ideographicThe space between 夹 two mountains 山; 夹 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿰山夹 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 峡 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 峡谷 | xiá gǔ | canyon |
| 海峡 | hǎi xiá | strait |
| 英吉利海峡 | yīng jí lì hǎi xiá | English Channel |
| 海峡群岛 | hǎi xiá qún dǎo | Channel Islands |
| 白令海峡 | bái lìng hǎi xiá | the Bering Strait (between Siberia and Alaska) |
| 山峡 | shān xiá | gorge |
| 巴士海峡 | bā shì hǎi xiá | Bashi Channel in the northern part of the Luzon Strait, just south of Taiwan |
| 海峡交流基金会 | hǎi xiá jiāo liú jī jīn huì | Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) |
| 新海峡时报 | xīn hǎi xiá shí bào | New Strait Times (newspaper) |
| 布里斯托尔海峡 | bù lǐ sī tuō ěr hǎi xiá | Bristol Channel in southwest England |
| 海峡两岸关系协会 | hǎi xiá liǎng àn guān xi xié huì | PRC Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) |
| 加来海峡 | jiā lái hǎi xiá | Strait of Calais in the English channel |
| 海峡时报 | hǎi xiá shí bào | The Straits Times |
| 对马海峡 | duì mǎ hǎi xiá | Tsushima Strait, between Japan and South Korea |
| 科罗拉多大峡谷 | kē luó lā duō dà xiá gǔ | the Grand Canyon (Colorado) |
峡 appears in 56 compound words: 7 as the first character, 64 as the last, and 29 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 峡 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (10)
Tsushima Strait; Eastern Channel (a channel of the Korea Strait, to the east and southeast of Tsushima Island)
Qiongzhou Strait (a strait in the Pacific Ocean, separating Hainan from mainland China)
Tsushima Strait; Eastern Channel (a channel of the Korea Strait, to the east and southeast of Tsushima Island)
Qiongzhou Strait (a strait in the Pacific Ocean, separating Hainan from mainland China)
Showing 9 of 10 idioms containing 峡.
Example Sentences
三峡风光举世闻名。
Sān Xiá fēngguāng jǔshì wénmíng.
The Three Gorges scenery is world-famous.
伊朗局势|霍尔木兹海峡航运瘫痪 全球1成货柜船受困
yī lǎng jú shì huò ěr mù zī hǎi xiá háng yùn tān huàn quán qiú 1 chéng huò guì chuán shòu kùn
Situation in Iran|Shipping in the Strait of Hormuz is paralyzed, and 10% of the world's container ships are trapped
世界杯男篮/海峡大战先发出炉!雷蒙恩继续先发 力拼二连胜
shì jiè bēi nán lán hǎi xiá dà zhàn xiān fā chū lú ! léi méng ēn jì xù xiān fā lì pīn èr lián shèng
World Cup men's basketball team/Straits war first! Raymond continued to start and fight for a second consecutive win
澳洲海军两度通过台湾海峡 国防部回应了
ào zhōu hǎi jūn liǎng dù tōng guò tái wān hǎi xiá guó fáng bù huí yīng le
The Australian Navy passed through the Taiwan Strait twice, and the Ministry of Defense responded
云南虎跳峡—一家三口行未开发地段 8岁童失足堕崖身...
yún nán hǔ tiào xiá — yī jiā sān kǒu háng wèi kāi fā dì duàn 8 suì tóng shī zú duò yá shēn . . .
Yunnan Tiger Leaping Gorge - a family of three in an undeveloped area 8-year-old child fell off a cliff...
永定河山峡段4座梯级水电站累计发电破100亿千瓦时
yǒng dìng hé shān xiá duàn zuò tī jí shuǐ diàn zhàn lěi jì fā diàn pò yì qiān wǎ shí
Cumulative power generation of four terraced hydropower stations in the Mountain Gorge section of the Yongding River exceeded 10 billion kilowatt-hours.
他是游过英吉利海峡的唯一一个美国人。
Tā shì yóu guo Yīngjílì Hǎixiá de wéiyī yī gè Měiguórén.
He is the only American who has swum the English Channel.
这个海峡对游艇来说太窄了。
Zhège hǎixiá duì yóutǐng lái shuō tài zhǎi le.
The straits were too narrow for the cruise ship.
峡谷对他来说非常深。
Xiágǔ duì tā lái shuō fēicháng shēn.
The gorge looked very deep to him.
并非所有峡湾周围都有山脉。
Bìngfēi suǒyǒu xiáwān zhōuwéi dōu yǒu shānmài.
Not all fjords have mountains around them.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 峡 (xiá) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 峡 have?
What is the radical of 峡?
What are the components of 峡?
What are common words containing 峡?
What characters sound the same as 峡 (xiá)?
Is 峡 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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