lèi
noun #10,295

Meanings

  1. 1 rib

Characters

Examples

Tā shuāidǎo hòu lèigǔ gǔzhé le.
He fractured a rib after he fell.
Rén yǒu shí'èr duì lèigǔ.
Humans have twelve pairs of ribs.

Tips

usage
is a bound form, almost always appearing in 肋骨 (lèigǔ, rib bone). Rarely used alone.

Components

radical
ròu
meat; flesh (radical form)
Left meat-flesh radical — visually identical to moon, but a different component used for body parts. The side-form of . Anchors in the anatomy family with chest, back, organ, waist. The rib cage is the body part most directly named in this character.
phonetic
strength; force
Right supplies the sound — lì shifting to lèi via vowel alternation. itself pictures a flexed arm or a plough handle, meaning 'strength.' Carries a faint semantic bonus here: ribs are the bony reinforcement that gives the chest its structural strength. Same phonetic in , .

Stroke Order

lèi