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棘

jí
noun #31,806

Meanings

  1. 1 thorn
  2. 2 bramble
  3. 3 sour jujube tree
  4. 4 (figurative) thorny / difficult

Examples

这片山坡长满了荆棘。
Zhè piàn shānpō zhǎngmǎn le jīngjí.
This hillside is overgrown with thorns and brambles.
这是一个十分棘手的问题。
Zhè shì yí ge shífēn jíshǒu de wèntí.
This is an extremely thorny problem.

Tips

memory
The character is two 朿 (cì, 'thorn') side by side — a thicket of thorn-bushes. Modern uses are almost always in compounds: 荆棘 (jīngjí, brambles), 棘手 (jíshǒu, thorny/tricky), 棘皮动物 (jípí dòngwù, echinoderms — 'thorn-skin animals' like sea urchins and starfish).
register
On its own 棘 is literary/written. In speech and modern writing it almost only appears as part of a compound.

Stroke Order

棘 jí