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篦

bì
noun #45,343

Meanings

  1. 1 a fine-toothed comb
  2. 2 to comb with a fine-toothed comb

Examples

古时用篦子梳去头发里的虱子。
Gǔshí yòng bì zi shū qù tóufa lǐ de shīzi.
In the old days a fine-toothed comb was used to comb lice out of the hair.

Tips

history
篦 is rarely standalone in modern Chinese. It survives mainly in 篦子 (a fine-toothed comb) and the simile 篦头 for combing through something thoroughly.
register
Old-fashioned and bound; the everyday word is 篦子, not the bare character.

Components

radical
⺮ zhú
bamboo
⺮ is the bamboo radical (top-form of 竹), because fine combs were traditionally made of bamboo.
semantic
囟 xìn
fontanelle; crown of the head
囟 is the crown of the head, in the middle, hinting at what the comb is used on — the hair on the head.
phonetic
比 bǐ
to compare; side by side
比 at the bottom supplies the sound, shifting from 比 to 篦; its closely-paired shape also evokes the comb's dense teeth.

Stroke Order

篦 bì