虾 (xiā) · shrimp, prawn

Measure Word

一只虾 zhī

Meanings

1 shrimp
2 prawn

About the ingredient

水产 Fish and seafood

Sold live from tanks, fresh on ice or frozen. Often boiled for a minute until pink and dipped in soy sauce with ginger or garlic, or stir-fried.

Contains shellfish

Also called 虾子

Used in 6 dishes

Characters

虾

xiā

shrimp

Examples

HSK 2

我最喜欢吃虾。

Wǒ zuì xǐhuan chī xiā.

I love eating shrimp the most.

HSK 3

虾要新鲜的才好吃。

Xiā yào xīnxiān de cái hǎochī.

Shrimp tastes good only when it's fresh.

HSK 4

这道菜用的是大虾。

Zhè dào cài yòng de shì dàxiā.

This dish uses large prawns.

Tips

usage

虾 is the general word. Specific types: 大虾 (prawn), 虾米 (small dried shrimp), 龙虾 (lobster, literally dragon shrimp), 虾仁 (peeled shrimp).

register

There is an old reading há, found only in the variant spelling 虾蟆 (a toad), which is usually written 蛤蟆 today. For the shrimp sense the character is always read xiā.

Components

radical

虫 chóng

insect; small creature

Insect and small-creature radical on the left, historically used for any small invertebrate, including aquatic ones. Anchors 虾 in the small-creature family alongside 蝴 (butterfly), 蛇 (snake), 蟹 (crab), 蜗 (snail). Tells the reader at a glance: this is a small, segmented animal.

phonetic

下 xià

down; below (here phonetic)

Right side 下 supplies the sound, xià to xiā with only a tone shift, an exact match. The traditional 蝦 used 叚 as the phonetic; the simplified form swapped in 下 for brevity. The down meaning is inert here, a pure phonetic borrow chosen for its compact shape.