泥鳅

泥鰍

níqiū

noun #37,767

Measure Word

一条泥鳅 tiáo

Meanings

1 loach
2 mud fish (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus)

Characters

Examples

小时候他常在稻田里抓泥鳅。

Xiǎo shíhòu tā cháng zài dàotián lǐ zhuā níqiū.

As a kid he often caught loaches in the rice paddies.

这条泥鳅滑得抓不住。

Zhè tiáo níqiū huá de zhuā bú zhù.

This loach is too slippery to hold.

Tips

memory

泥 (mud) + 鳅 (loach) = 'mud loach', a fish that burrows into paddy-field mud. Its legendary slipperiness fuels the idiom-like phrase 滑得像泥鳅 ('slippery as a loach') — used for evasive people.

Stroke Order

泥 ní

鳅 qiū