Chinese word

滴

Pronunciation

Pinyindī

Meaning

  • noundrop

Example

叶子上有一滴水。yè zi shàng yǒu yì dī shuǐ

There is one drop of water on the leaf.

Illustration for 滴 (drop)

More examples

伤口上落了几滴血，医生用棉球按住了。shāng kǒu shàng luò le jǐ dī xuè yī shēng yòng mián qiú àn zhù le

A few drops of blood fell onto the wound, and the doctor pressed it with a cotton ball.

Core concept

A small amount of liquid gathered into one rounded unit, either attached or falling.

Common phrases

  • 几滴眼泪jǐ dī yǎn lèi

    a few drops of tears

  • 一滴血yì dī xuè

    a drop of blood

  • 几滴药水jǐ dī yào shuǐ

    a few drops of medicine

Similar words

水滴shuǐ dī: A small, rounded bead of water.
一滴yì dī: A single drop of liquid counted as one very small amount.
露珠lù zhū: A small, rounded bead of dew on a leaf or blade of grass.

Definition in Chinese

独立成形的小液珠，体积很小，通常呈球状或半球状，附着在表面或从表面脱落时可被单独指出，作为名词指这一单个水珠。dú lì chéng xíng de xiǎo yè zhū tǐ jī hén xiǎo tōng cháng chéng qiú zhuàng huò bàn qiú zhuàng fù zhuó zài biǎo miàn huò cóng biǎo miàn tuō luò shí kě bèi dān dú zhǐ chū zuò wéi míng cí zhǐ zhè yì dān gè shuǐ zhū

Word origin

滴 (dī, "drop") is a phono-semantic character: its water radical points to liquid, while the other component mainly supplies the pronunciation.

Usage tips

  • The word marks separate beads in descriptions of rain, sweat, or condensation, rather than a vague quantity of liquid.

Other meanings

  • dripverb

Related words

  • 点滴diǎn dīIV dripnoun
  • 液滴yè dīdropletnoun

Word lists with this word