蚀 meaning and stroke order
To nibble at, to erode; an eclipse
How to write 蚀, stroke by stroke
9 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 蚀
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to nibble away at sth
- to eat into
- to erode
How 蚀 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. An insect 虫 bite 饣; 饣 also provides the pronunciation.
Radical: 饣 (food), shared by 43 characters on this site.
How to remember 蚀
An insect 虫 on the right is eating 饣 away at something on the left. Picture a bug slowly nibbling through a leaf until it wears away.
蚀 (shí) mostly appears in compounds about slow damage, like 腐蚀 (fǔshí, to corrode) and 侵蚀 (qīnshí, to erode). It is also used in money talk, as in 亏蚀 (kuīshí, to lose money). Example: 海水会腐蚀铁。 (Hǎishuǐ huì fǔshí tiě.) Seawater corrodes iron.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 蚀 with 饰 (shì, to decorate). Both have 饣 on the left and sound similar, but 饰 has a cloth part and a fourth tone, while 蚀 has 虫 and a second tone.
Common words with 蚀
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
蚀 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 蚀
How many strokes are in 蚀?
蚀 is written with 9 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 蚀 mean?
蚀 (shí) means to nibble at, to erode; an eclipse. A common word with it is 腐蚀 (fǔshí), meaning "corrosion; to corrode (degrade chemically)".
How do you pronounce 蚀?
蚀 is pronounced shí, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 蚀?
The radical of 蚀 is 饣, which carries the idea of "food". Dictionaries list 蚀 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 蚀?
The traditional form of 蚀 is 蝕. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 蚀 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 蚀 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 蚀 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Should I write 日蚀 or 日食 for a solar eclipse?
Both are seen, but 日食 (rìshí) is the standard form in mainland China today. 日蚀 is listed as a variant, so 日食 and 月食 (yuèshí) are the safer choices.
Can 蚀 be used alone as a verb?
In everyday speech it rarely stands alone. You will mostly meet it inside set words like 腐蚀, 侵蚀, or 蚀本 (shíběn, to lose capital).