Meaning of 海底
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- seabed; seafloor; bottom of the ocean
How to use 海底
海底 is a common noun for the seabed, used in science, travel and stories. It often appears with 在 and a location word, or before another noun as a modifier. Example: 海底有很多鱼。(Hǎidǐ yǒu hěn duō yú.) There are many fish on the seabed.
海 (hǎi) means sea and 底 (dǐ) means bottom, so 海底 is simply the bottom of the sea. Picture yourself diving down through the 海 until you touch its 底.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 底 (dǐ) with 低 (dī, low). They look similar and sound almost the same, but 底 has the 广 roof on top and means bottom, while 低 has the person radical 亻 and means low.
海底 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.
海 hǎi · ocean · 10 strokes
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底 dǐ · bottom · 8 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 海底.
| 大海 | dàhǎi | sea; ocean |
| 海边 | hǎi biān | coast; seaside; seashore; beach |
| 到底 | dàodǐ | finally; in the end |
| 底下 | dǐxia | the location below sth; afterwards |
| 海关 | hǎiguān | customs (i.e. border crossing inspection) |
| 年底 | niándǐ | end of the year |
| 彻底 | chèdǐ | thorough; thoroughly |
| 海水 | hǎishuǐ | seawater |
| 海鲜 | hǎixiān | seafood |
| 月底 | yuèdǐ | end of the month |
| 海洋 | hǎiyáng | ocean |
| 海军 | hǎijūn | navy |
Questions about 海底
What does 海底 mean?
海底 (hǎidǐ) means "seabed; seafloor; bottom of the ocean" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 海底?
海底 is made of 2 characters: 海 (10 strokes), 底 (8 strokes). That is 18 strokes in total.
Is 海底 an HSK word?
Yes. 海底 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 海底 and 海下?
海底 is the actual floor of the ocean. 海下 or 海里 just means under or in the sea, anywhere in the water. A fish swimming near the surface is 在海里, but a shipwreck resting on the bottom is 在海底.
Does 海底 have any figurative meanings?
Yes, it appears in idioms like 海底捞针 (hǎidǐ lāo zhēn), to fish a needle from the seabed, meaning something nearly impossible to find. You may also recognize it from the hot pot chain 海底捞 (Hǎidǐlāo).