Meaning of 雪
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- snow
- (literary) to wipe away (a humiliation etc)
Measure word: 場|场
- surname Xue
How to use 雪
雪 (xuě) means snow and appears in many common words like 滑雪 (huáxuě, to ski) and 雪山 (xuěshān, snowy mountain). To say it is snowing, use the verb 下 (xià) rather than 雪 alone: 外面下雪了。(Wàimiàn xià xuě le.) It is snowing outside.
The top of 雪 is 雨 (yǔ, rain), and the bottom looks like a hand sweeping. Picture rain that has turned solid and piled up, so you have to sweep it away: that is snow.
Common mistake: Learners often say 雪了 to mean "it snowed," but 雪 is a noun here, so you need 下雪了 (xià xuě le). Also watch the third tone: xuě dips low, so do not say it flat like xuē (靴, boot).
雪 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.
雪 xuě · snow · 11 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
Related words
Words that share a character with 雪.
| 下雪 | xià xuě | to snow |
| 冰雪 | bīngxuě | ice and snow |
| 滑雪 | huáxuě | to ski; skiing |
| 雪上加霜 | xuěshàng-jiāshuāng | (idiom) to make matters even worse; to add insult to injury |
| 雪山 | xuěshān | snow-capped mountain |
| 瑞雪 | ruìxuě | timely snow |
| 雪茄 | xuějiā | (loanword) cigar |
| 雪梨 | Xuělí | snow pear (pyrus nivalis) |
| 雪橇 | xuěqiāo | sled; sledge |
| 雪花 | xuěhuā | snowflake |
| 暴风雪 | bàofēngxuě | snowstorm; blizzard |
| 雪糕 | xuěgāo | ice cream bar; ice cream popsicle |
Questions about 雪
What does 雪 mean?
雪 (xuě) means "snow; (literary) to wipe away (a humiliation etc)" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 雪?
雪 is made of 1 character: 雪 (11 strokes). That is 11 strokes in total.
Is 雪 an HSK word?
Yes. 雪 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 雪上加霜 mean and when do I use it?
雪上加霜 (xuěshàng-jiāshuāng) literally means adding frost on top of snow. It describes a bad situation getting even worse, like losing your wallet after missing your train.
Can 雪 mean anything besides snow?
Yes. In literary Chinese, 雪 can mean to wipe away a humiliation or wrong, as in 雪耻 (xuěchǐ, to avenge a disgrace). It is also a surname, Xuě.