枪

槍
qiāng
noun HSK 6 #298

Measure Word

一把枪 bǎ

Meanings

  1. 1 gun; firearm; rifle
  2. 2 spear; lance
  3. 3 measure word for gunshots

Examples

HSK 3
Tā tīngdào le qiāngshēng.
He heard gunshots.
HSK 4
Jǐngchá yígòng kāi le sān qiāng.
The police fired three shots in total.
HSK 4
Zhè bǎ qiāng shì jiǎ de.
This gun is fake.

Tips

usage
Common compounds: 手枪 (pistol), 步枪 (rifle), 机枪 (machine gun), 枪声 (gunshot sound).
history
The character has 木 (wood) on the left - historically, guns/spears had wooden shafts or stocks.

Components

radical
木 mù
tree; wood
Left tree radical - the indexing component. 枪 originally referred to a wooden spear or lance, hence the wood marker. The meaning later extended to firearms once their stocks were still wooden. Same radical anchors weapon-shafts and tools: 棒 (stick), 板 (plank), 椅 (chair).
phonetic
仓 cāng
storehouse; granary
Right 仓 supplies the sound (cāng to qiāng, c/q affricate drift) and a possible flavor of armory or storehouse - a place where weapons are kept. Phonetic family: 沧 (vast water), 苍 (deep blue), 舱 (cabin) - all carrying cāng/qiāng readings.

Stroke Order

枪 qiāng