IDENTITY
贝bèishell; cowrie (ancient Chinese money)
HSK 4Top 1200
CORE MEANING
shell; cowrie (ancient Chinese money)
- Part of speech
- noun
- Register
- neutral
Senses
- 1.shellHSK4
FORM & BREAKDOWN
- Radical
- 贝shell radical (bèi)
- strokes
- 4
- Structure
- single pictograph
- IDS sequence
- 贝
USAGE
Common words
贝壳bèikéseashell
宝贝bǎobèitreasure; darling
贝类bèilèishellfish
Graded examples
孩子们在海边捡贝壳。Háizimen zài hǎibiān jiǎn bèiké.HSK4
The children pick up seashells by the sea.
RELATIONS
Lookalike — don’t mix up
LEARNING
Memory aid
An opened cowrie shell — once used as money.
- HSK version
- 3.0
- Frequency rank
- #1200
- Memory aid
- imagery
TRUST & SOURCES
- Reviewed by
- AI-assisted editorial review
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-14
Sources
- CC-CEDICT 2026-01-01
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