腮 meaning and stroke order
Jaw; gills
How to write 腮, stroke by stroke
13 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 腮
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- cheek
- variant of 腮[sai1]
How 腮 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Flesh.
⺼ gives the meaning and 思 hints at the sound.
Radical: ⺼ (meat), shared by 176 characters on this site.
How to remember 腮
The flesh radical ⺼ on the left tells you this is a body part, and 思 (sī) on the right gives the sound. Picture someone resting a hand on their cheek while thinking 思, and you have 腮 (sāi), the fleshy cheek.
腮 (sāi) means the cheek or the lower side of the face, and it also names the gills of a fish. It usually appears in compounds such as 腮帮子 (sāibāngzi, cheeks), 两腮 (liǎng sāi, both cheeks) and 鱼腮 (yú sāi, fish gills). Example: 她两腮通红。(Tā liǎng sāi tōnghóng.) Her cheeks are bright red.
Common mistake: Learners often read 腮 as sī because of the phonetic part 思, but the correct reading is sāi with a first tone. Also, do not swap it for 鳃 (sāi), which has the fish radical and is the more standard way to write fish gills.
腮 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 腮
How many strokes are in 腮?
腮 is written with 13 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 腮 mean?
腮 (sāi) means jaw; gills.
How do you pronounce 腮?
腮 is pronounced sāi, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 腮?
The radical of 腮 is ⺼, which carries the idea of "meat". Dictionaries list 腮 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 腮?
The traditional form of 腮 is 顋. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 腮 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
What is the difference between 腮 and 脸 for cheek?
脸 (liǎn) means the whole face and is the everyday word. 腮 (sāi) refers more narrowly to the cheeks or the sides of the lower face, and it often shows up in descriptive or literary phrases like 托腮 (tuō sāi, to rest the chin on a hand).
What does 腮腺炎 mean?
腮腺炎 (sāixiànyán) is mumps, literally inflammation of the cheek glands. 腮腺 (sāixiàn) is the parotid gland, which sits in the cheek area near the ear.