Chinese word

蟹

Pronunciation

Pinyinxiè

Meaning

  • nouncrab

Example

他喜欢吃蟹。tā xǐ huān chī xiè

He likes eating crab.

Illustration for 蟹 (crab)

More examples

这家店的蟹肉很鲜美。zhè jiā diàn de xiè ròu hěn xiān měi

The crab meat at this restaurant is very fresh and tasty.

Core concept

A hard-shelled aquatic animal with ten jointed legs, grasping front claws, and a characteristic sideways walk.

Common phrases

  • 吃蟹chī xiè

    eat crab

  • 买蟹mǎi xiè

    buy crab

  • 蟹肉xiè ròu

    crab meat

Similar words

螃蟹páng xiè: An everyday crab seen as food or as an animal to watch.
虾xiā: A small water animal with a long body and many legs, commonly used in cooking.
龙虾lóng xiā: A large hard-shelled sea animal with a prominent tail, valued as a high-quality food.
大闸蟹dà zhá xiè: A Chinese crab especially associated with autumn markets and seasonal eating.

Definition in Chinese

一种有硬壳、十只脚、前端常有一对螯的甲壳类动物，生活在海洋、河流或沿岸潮间带。yì zhǒng yǒu yìng ké shí zhǐ jiǎo qián duān cháng yǒu yí duì áo de jiǎ qiào lèi dòng wù shēng huó zài hǎi yáng hé liú huò yán àn cháo jiān dài

Word origin

蟹 (xiè, "crab") is a phono-semantic character: 虫 (chóng, "insect") marks an arthropod, while 解 (xiè, "sound-bearing component") mainly supplies the pronunciation.

Usage tips

  • Chinese does not usually mark plural nouns, so context or a measure word shows whether the sentence refers to one animal or several.

Related words

  • 蟹肉xiè ròucrab meatnoun

Word lists with this word