鳅 (qiū): loach (a small slippery freshwa…

Meanings

泥鳅钻进塘底的泥里。

Níqiū zuān jìn tángdǐ de ní lǐ.

Loaches burrow into the mud at the bottom of the pond.

泥鳅滑溜，很难用手抓住。

Níqiū huáliū, hěn nán yòng shǒu zhuāzhù.

Loaches are slippery and very hard to grab by hand.

usage

Nearly always 泥鳅 ('mud loach'). Because it is famously slippery, 泥鳅 is also a metaphor for a slippery, evasive person.

radical

鱼 yú

fish

Left side is the fish radical 鱼, marking a fish name. The traditional form 鰍 uses the fuller fish graph 魚.

phonetic

秋 qiū

autumn; sound element

Right side 秋 supplies the reading qiū exactly — a clean phonetic with no tone change.

鳅 qiū