Chinese word

鳄鱼

Pronunciation

Pinyinè yú

Meaning

  • nouncrocodile

Example

孩子们在动物园看见了鳄鱼。hái zi men zài dòng wù yuán kàn jiàn le è yú

The children saw a crocodile at the zoo.

Illustration for 鳄鱼 (crocodile)

More examples

鳄鱼的皮很贵，常用于制作皮革制品。è yú de pí hěn guì cháng yòng yú zhì zuò pí gé zhì pǐn

Crocodile skin is expensive and is often used to make leather goods.

Core concept

A heavy, armored water-edge hunter that stays still before lunging at nearby prey.

Common phrases

  • 被鳄鱼攻击bèi è yú gōng jī

    be attacked by a crocodile

  • 小鳄鱼xiǎo è yú

    baby crocodile

  • 鳄鱼栖息地è yú qī xī dì

    crocodile habitat

Definition in Chinese

通常指生活在淡水或咸水边缘、体形粗壮且尾巴有力的爬行动物，习惯在水中或水边伏击猎物。tōng cháng zhǐ shēng huó zài dàn shuǐ huò xián shuǐ biān yuán tǐ xíng cū zhuàng qiě wěi ba yǒu lì de pá xíng dòng wù xí guàn zài shuǐ zhōng huò shuǐ biān fú jī liè wù

Word origin

鳄 (è, "crocodile") + 鱼 (yú, "fish") forms a transparent compound, with 鱼 adding a familiar water-animal element to the specific name 鳄.

Usage tips

  • In everyday Chinese, the noun can refer to one animal or several without a plural ending, so quantity is usually made clear by a number and a classifier.

Related words

  • 鳄鱼皮è yú pícrocodile skinnoun
  • 鳄鱼肉è yú ròucrocodile meatnoun

Word lists with this word