舐 (shì): to lick

Meanings

1 to lick
2 to lap (up)

Characters

舐

shì

to lick

Examples

HSK 7-9

猫轻轻地舐着爪子。

Māo qīngqīng de shì zhe zhuǎzi.

The cat gently licked its paws.

HSK 7-9

母牛用舌头舐着小牛犊。

Mǔniú yòng shétou shì zhe xiǎo niúdú.

The mother cow licked the calf with her tongue.

Tips

usage

舐 is literary and relatively rare in everyday speech; 舔 is the more common colloquial word for 'to lick'. 舐 appears in classical compounds like 舐犊情深 (a parent's deep love for their child).

Components

radical

舌 shé

tongue

Left-side tongue radical - pictograph of a tongue protruding from an open mouth (top stroke = tongue tip, 口 = mouth below). The indexing radical: 舐 is to lick, lap up - the tongue gathering food. Same family: 甜 sweet, 舔 to lick (the common modern synonym).

phonetic

氏 shì

clan; family name

Right side 氏 supplies the sound: shì, identical pinyin and tone. 氏 originally pictured a kneeling person stamping a seal - 'clan name, lineage'. The phonetic faintly reinforces meaning: the cow tending its calf is preserving the lineage. Same phonetic family: 纸 paper, 抵 to resist.