嚓 meaning and stroke order
A cracking or snapping sound
How to write 嚓, stroke by stroke
17 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 嚓
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (onom.) scraping sound
- ripping of fabric
- screeching of tires
- used in 咔嚓[ka1 cha1], 喀嚓[ka1 cha1] and 啪嚓[pa1 cha1]
- Taiwan pr. [ca1]
How 嚓 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Mouth.
口 gives the meaning and 察 hints at the sound.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 嚓
嚓 is 口 (mouth) plus 察 (chá), which gives the sound. Picture a mouth imitating a sharp chá or cā noise, like something snapping or scraping.
嚓 is an onomatopoeia, so it mostly appears in sound words, especially 咔嚓 (kāchā) for a snap, crack, or camera click. Read alone as cā, it can describe scraping, ripping cloth, or screeching tires. Example: 树枝咔嚓一声断了。(Shùzhī kāchā yì shēng duàn le.) The branch snapped with a crack.
Common mistake: Learners often read it as chá because of the phonetic part 察, but in mainland Mandarin it is cā on its own and chā in 咔嚓. Also do not drop the 口 on the left. Without it you get 察 (chá), which means to examine.
Common words with 嚓
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 咔嚓 | kāchā | (onom.) breaking or snapping; (coll.) cut it out |
Questions about 嚓
How many strokes are in 嚓?
嚓 is written with 17 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 嚓 mean?
嚓 (cā) means a cracking or snapping sound. A common word with it is 咔嚓 (kāchā), meaning "(onom.) breaking or snapping; (coll.) cut it out".
How do you pronounce 嚓?
嚓 is pronounced cā, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 嚓?
The radical of 嚓 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 嚓 under this radical.
Is 嚓 pronounced cā or chā?
Both are used. On its own, or for scraping and ripping sounds, it is cā. In words like 咔嚓, 喀嚓 and 啪嚓 it is chā in the mainland, while Taiwan says cā.
Does 咔嚓 have any meaning besides a sound?
Yes. In colloquial speech 咔嚓 can mean "cut it out," like making a quick cutting motion to stop something. Most of the time, though, it simply imitates a snap or a click.