虱

蝨
shī
noun #21,340

Measure Word

一只虱 zhī

Meanings

  1. 1 louse
  2. 2 lice

Characters

Examples

HSK 3
Háizi de tóu shàng zhǎng le shīzi.
The child had lice in their hair.
HSK 5
Shīzi kào xī xuè wéishēng.
Lice survive by sucking blood.

Tips

usage
虱 alone is the literary/formal form; in everyday speech 虱子 is far more common. 头虱 (head lice) and 体虱 (body lice) are common collocations.

Components

radical
虫 chóng
insect
虫 (the insect radical) sits inside the upper-right wrap and supplies the literal meaning - 虱 is a small insect, specifically a louse. 虫 groups it with 蚊 (mosquito), 蜂 (bee), 蛇 (snake) and the rest of the creepy-crawly family.
semantic
虱 shī
louse with insect-radical core (graphic residue)
The top-right corner is a fused two-stroke remnant - historically a stylised pair of louse legs or claws hooked above the body. Standalone parts here have collapsed into an unanalysable shape, so the residue rides as a single graphic unit framing the bug below.

Stroke Order

虱 shī