砾

礫

lì

乐 + 石

Definitions

lì (bound form) gravel; small stone

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 石 represents the meaning and 乐 represents the sound. Simplified form of 礫.

Semantic: 石 Phonetic: 乐

About

Originally written as 礫, the character is a phono-semantic compound with the stone radical 石 on the left and the phonetic component 樂 on the right. Simplified to 砾, it replaces 樂 with 乐, but the structure remains the same. The radical 石 classifies it as a type of stone, while 乐 gives the sound. It denotes fragmented rock: crushed stone, gravel, pebbles, or coarse sand, not solid boulders or fine dust. This character commonly appears in words like 沙砾, describing granular mixtures of sand and stone in geology and architecture.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

这条路铺满了沙砾。

Zhè tiáo lù pū mǎn le shālì.

This road is covered with gravel.

孩子们喜欢在砾石滩上玩耍。

Háizimen xǐhuan zài lìshí tān shàng wánshuǎ.

Children like to play on the gravel beach.

河床里布满了大大小小的砾石。

Héchuáng lǐ bù mǎn le dà dà xiǎo xiǎo de lìshí.

The riverbed is covered with gravel of various sizes.

工人们用砾石铺设路基。

Gōngrénmen yòng lìshí pūshè lùjī.

The workers used gravel to pave the roadbed.

地质学家仔细研究这些冰川砾岩。

Dìzhì xuéjiā zǐxì yánjiū zhèxiē bīngchuān lìyán.

The geologist carefully studied these glacial conglomerates.

车轮碾过，溅起一片细碎的砾石。

Chēlún niǎn guò, jiàn qǐ yī piàn xìsuì de lìshí.

The wheels rolled over, kicking up a spray of fine gravel.

他的论证像沙砾一样，松散而缺乏凝聚力。

Tā de lùnzhèng xiàng shālì yīyàng, sōngsǎn ér quēfá níngjùlì.

His argument is like sand and gravel, loose and lacking cohesion.

岁月如流水，将尖锐的伤痛磨成了圆润的砾石。

Suìyuè rú liúshuǐ, jiāng jiānruì de shāngtòng mó chéngle yuánrùn de lìshí.

Time is like flowing water, grinding sharp pain into smooth pebbles.

Related Characters

Component: 乐

Component: 石

砾