雹 (báo): hail

Meanings

一场突如其来的冰雹把庄稼打倒了。

Yì cháng tūrúqílái de bīngbáo bǎ zhuāngjia dǎ dǎo le.

A sudden hailstorm flattened the crops.

雹子有鸡蛋那么大。

Báozi yǒu jīdàn nàme dà.

The hailstones were as big as eggs.

usage

The everyday word is 冰雹 ('hail'); spoken Chinese also uses 雹子 (雹子). 雹 itself is the meteorological term for ice pellets falling from storm clouds.

radical

雨 yǔ

rain

雨 is the rain radical (top form). Hail is frozen precipitation falling like rain, so the weather radical fixes the meaning.

phonetic

包 bāo

to wrap; phonetic

包 supplies the sound (bāo shifting to báo). A hailstone is a little pellet of ice wrapped in layers, which faintly echoes 包's 'wrap up' sense.

雹 báo