qiè
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 a small box; a chest; a case (for books, clothes, valuables)

Examples

Tā fù qiè yè xǐ, tà xuě ér xíng.
He carried a book chest on his back and trudged through the snow.
Jiāzhōng yì qiè zhuāng zhe yì dié jiù xìn.
A small chest at home held a stack of old letters.

Tips

usage
is a literary word for a small box or book chest, common in 书箧 ('book case') and 倾箱倒箧 ('to empty out every box', i.e. to give all one has). Everyday speech uses 箱子.

Components

radical
zhú
bamboo
⺮ is the bamboo radical on top. Small chests and cases were woven from bamboo strips, so the meaning sits under 'bamboo'.
phonetic
jiā
to press between; to clip
gives the sound, shifted from jiā to qiè. Its sense 'to hold between' faintly fits a box that holds things inside it.

Stroke Order

qiè