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霰

xiàn
noun #90,846

Meanings

  1. 1 graupel; soft hail
  2. 2 snow pellets

Examples

HSK 2
下雪前，先下起了霰。
Xiàxuě qián, xiān xià qǐ le xiàn.
Before the snow fell, graupel rattled down first.
HSK 7-9
霰落地时会反跳破碎。
Xiàn luò dì shí huì fǎntiào pòsuì.
Soft hail bounced and shattered when it hit the ground.

Tips

memory
Rain radical 雨 on top over 散 (to scatter): frozen droplets that 'scatter down' from the sky, the soft white pellets that often fall just before snow.

Components

radical
雨 yǔ
rain; precipitation
Top 雨 (rain), the indexing radical. It marks 霰 as a form of precipitation, alongside 雪 (snow) and 雹 (hail).
phonetic
散 sàn
to scatter; phonetic
Bottom 散 supplies the sound (sàn drifting to xiàn) and a fitting image: tiny ice pellets scattering down and bouncing apart on the ground.

Stroke Order

霰 xiàn