霰 meaning and stroke order
Hail, sleet
How to write 霰, stroke by stroke
20 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 霰
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- graupel
- snow pellet
- soft hail
How 霰 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Rain.
雨 gives the meaning and 散 hints at the sound.
Radical: 雨 (rain), shared by 42 characters on this site.
How to remember 霰
霰 is 雨 (rain, weather) on top of 散 (sǎn, to scatter). Picture icy pellets falling from the sky and scattering everywhere when they hit the ground.
霰 means graupel, the small soft ice pellets that fall before or with snow. It appears in weather reports and literature. Today it is most common in the word 霰弹枪 (xiàndànqiāng, shotgun), named for pellets that spread like graupel. Example: 天上下起了霰。(Tiānshàng xià qǐ le xiàn.) Little ice pellets started falling from the sky.
Common mistake: Learners often read 霰 as sǎn because of its phonetic part 散, but standard Mandarin reads it xiàn, as in 霰弹枪 (xiàndànqiāng). Do not confuse it with 雹 (báo), which is real hard hail.
Common words with 霰
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 霰弹枪 | xiàndànqiāng | shotgun |
Questions about 霰
How many strokes are in 霰?
霰 is written with 20 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 霰 mean?
霰 (sǎn) means hail, sleet. A common word with it is 霰弹枪 (xiàndànqiāng), meaning "shotgun".
How do you pronounce 霰?
霰 is pronounced sǎn, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 霰?
The radical of 霰 is 雨, which carries the idea of "rain". Dictionaries list 霰 under this radical.
What is the difference between 霰 and 冰雹?
霰 (xiàn) is soft, small snow pellets that crumble easily. 冰雹 (bīngbáo) is hard, larger hail that falls in summer thunderstorms.
Why does a shotgun use the character 霰?
A shotgun fires many small pellets that scatter, like graupel falling. So 霰弹 (xiàndàn) means scatter shot, and 霰弹枪 is the gun that fires it.