ěr
noun #13,220

Measure Word

Meanings

  1. 1 bait; lure
  2. 2 pastry; food (archaic)

Examples

HSK 7-9
Tā zài yúgōu shàng guà le ěr.
He put bait on the fishing hook.
HSK 7-9
Búyào shàngdàng, nà shì yòu'ěr.
Don't fall for it, that's bait.

Tips

usage
is commonly seen in compounds: 鱼饵 (fish bait), 诱饵 (lure / decoy). On its own it's more literary.

Components

radical
shí
food (radical form of 食)
Three-stroke food radical on the left, side form of . originally named a steamed rice cake, and from there extended to bait - food set out to lure animals or fish. Groups with rice, dumpling, bun, flatcake, inn-restaurant - chars about something edible.
phonetic
ěr
ear
Right side supplies the sound - ěr read straight across with no shift. Pure phonetic role; the ear imagery has no semantic contribution. Same phonetic appears in lake-name, ear ornament, erbium - a tight ěr family with two chemistry-table entries.

Stroke Order

ěr