嚓 (cā): scraping or scratching sound

Meanings

1 scraping or scratching sound
2 ripping of fabric
3 screech of tires

Characters

嚓

cā

onomatopoeia: scrape / rip

Examples

HSK 2

汽车嚓的一下停住了。

Qìchē cā de yíxià tíng zhù le.

The car came to a screeching halt.

HSK 5

嚓的一声，他划亮了火柴。

Cā de yì shēng, tā huá liàng le huǒchái.

With a 'scratch' he struck the match alight.

Tips

usage

嚓 is purely an onomatopoeia, often paired with a leading syllable: 喀嚓 (snap/crunch) or 啪嚓 (splat). On its own it captures a quick scrape, scratch or rip. Compare English 'scritch'.

Components

radical

口 kǒu

mouth

Left mouth radical - the indexing radical for sound-effect interjections. Most onomatopoeic characters in modern Chinese start with 口 to mark them as noises rather than words. In 嚓 it tags the syllable as a short sharp sound: a snip, click or scrape. Same family: 啊, 哦, 哎, 啦, 嗡.

phonetic

察 chá

to inspect

Right 察 supplies the sound - chá clipped to cā as a sharp interjection. The inspect meaning is not carried. 嚓 mimics the abrupt sound of a scissor cut, a brake squeal, a quick splash - comic-book onomatopoeia. Often paired: 咔嚓, the snap of a camera shutter.