垒

壘

lěi

厽 + 土

Definitions

lěi (verb) to stack; to pile up

lěi (noun) rampart; fortification

lěi (noun) base (in baseball)

Etymology phono-semantic

earth

Semantic: 土 Phonetic: 厽

About

The character 垒 consists of the earth radical 土 at the bottom, anchoring the meaning to soil and earth, with the phonetic component 厽 above. The traditional form is 壘, where the upper component is 畾 (three 田 'field' characters) over the same earth radical. Its primary meaning is a rampart or military breastwork, defensive structures built by piling up earth and stones. The character emphasizes the act of stacking earth to form walls, fortifications, and raised mounds.

Etymology Hide

Bronze Late Warring States (~250 BC)

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

垒球很好玩。

Lěiqiú hěn hǎowán.

Softball is fun.

孩子们在垒沙堡。

Háizimen zài lěi shābǎo.

The children are building sandcastles.

这座堡垒很古老。

Zhè zuò bǎolěi hěn gǔlǎo.

This fortress is very old.

他跑向了三垒。

Tā pǎo xiàng le sān lěi.

He ran to third base.

工人用砖头垒墙。

Gōngrén yòng zhuāntou lěi qiáng.

Workers use bricks to build a wall.

他们在后院垒了一个烧烤台。

Tāmen zài hòuyuàn lěi le yī gè shāokǎo tái.

They built a barbecue platform in the backyard.

为了防守，士兵们垒起了高高的土墙。

Wèile fángshǒu, shìbīngmen lěi qǐ le gāogāo de tǔ qiáng.

For defense, the soldiers built a high earthen wall.

在棒球比赛中，成功上垒是得分的关键。

Zài bàngqiú bǐsài zhōng, chénggōng shàng lěi shì dé fēn de guānjiàn.

In baseball games, successfully getting on base is key to scoring.

Related Characters

Component: 厽

Component: 土

垒