嚓 (cā): (onomatopoeia) scraping or scra…

Meanings

1 (onomatopoeia) scraping or scratching sound
2 ripping of fabric
3 screech of tires

Characters

嚓

cā

(onomatopoeia: scrape / rip)

Examples

嚓的一声，他划亮了火柴。

Cā de yì shēng, tā huá liàng le huǒchái.

With a 'scratch' he struck the match alight.

汽车嚓的一下停住了。

Qìchē cā de yíxià tíng zhù le.

The car came to a screeching halt.

Tips

usage

嚓 is purely an onomatopoeia, often paired with a leading syllable: 喀嚓 (kāchā, snap/crunch) or 啪嚓 (pāchā, splat). On its own it captures a quick scrape, scratch or rip. Compare English 'scritch'.

Components

radical

口 kǒu

mouth

Left mouth radical — the indexing radical for sound-effect interjections. Most onomatopoeic characters in modern Chinese start with 口 to mark them as noises rather than words. In 嚓 it tags the syllable as a short sharp sound: a snip, click or scrape. Same family: 啊, 哦, 哎, 啦, 嗡.

phonetic

察 chá

to inspect (here phonetic)

Right 察 supplies the sound — chá clipped to cā as a sharp interjection. The inspect meaning is not carried. 嚓 mimics the abrupt sound of a scissor cut, a brake squeal, a quick splash — comic-book onomatopoeia. Often paired: 咔嚓 the snap of a camera shutter.