一撮

yīcuō

measure word

Meanings

1 a pinch (of)
2 a small amount held between fingers
3 a tiny clique (figurative)

Characters

to pinch; gather

Examples

汤里加一撮盐就够了。

Tāng lǐ jiā yī cuō yán jiù gòu le.

A pinch of salt in the soup is enough.

这只是一撮坏人。

Zhè zhǐ shì yī cuō huàirén.

This is just a tiny clique of bad people.

Tips

history

In the Han-era 《汉书·律历志》, 撮 was a formal unit of volume — four 圭 made a 撮. Today it simply means a pinch between the fingertips, but the figurative use 一小撮 ('a small clique') preserves the tiny-amount sense.

Stroke Order

一 yī

撮 cuō