Meaning of 冰
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- ice
- to chill sth
- (of an object or substance) to feel cold
- (of a person) cold
- unfriendly
- (slang) methamphetamine
Measure word: 塊|块
- variant of 冰[bing1]
How to use 冰
冰 means ice as a noun, and it also works as a verb meaning to chill something or to feel cold to the touch. It appears in many everyday words like 冰箱 (bīngxiāng, refrigerator) and 滑冰 (huábīng, to skate). Example: 把啤酒冰一下。(Bǎ píjiǔ bīng yíxià.) Chill the beer for a bit.
冰 (bīng) is 水 (shuǐ, water) with two small strokes 冫 on the left. Think of those two strokes as cracks in frozen water, so water plus cracks gives you ice.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 冰 (bīng) with 水 (shuǐ) or write the left side as three dots like 氵. Ice uses only two strokes, 冫, the same part found in 冷 (lěng, cold).
冰 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
冰 bīng · ice · 6 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
Related words
Words that share a character with 冰.
Questions about 冰
What does 冰 mean?
冰 (bīng) means "ice; to chill sth" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 冰?
冰 is made of 1 character: 冰 (6 strokes). That is 6 strokes in total.
Is 冰 an HSK word?
Yes. 冰 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do you say ice water or iced drinks in Chinese?
Ice water is 冰水 (bīngshuǐ). For iced drinks, add 冰 before the drink, as in 冰咖啡 (bīng kāfēi, iced coffee). When ordering, 加冰 (jiā bīng) means with ice and 去冰 (qù bīng) means no ice.
Can 冰 describe a person's attitude?
Yes. 冰 can describe someone who is cold or unfriendly, often in phrases like 冷冰冰 (lěngbīngbīng, icy, distant). For example, 他对我冷冰冰的 (Tā duì wǒ lěngbīngbīng de) means he is cold toward me.