夹克(jiā kè) - jacket in Mandarin

夹克 (jiākè) is a jacket, the short, waist-length outer garment. It is a phonetic loanword, built from characters chosen for their sound rather than their sense, so do not try to read meaning into 夹 (jiā) or 克 (kè) here the way you would with a native compound.

夹克 (jiākè) is narrower than 外套 (wàitào), the general word for coat, which also covers long overcoats. If the garment is short and casual, 夹克 (jiākè) is the natural choice; a full-length winter coat is better called 大衣 (dàyī).

The measure word is 件 (jiàn), used for most upper-body clothing: 一件夹克 (yí jiàn jiākè), one jacket. It pairs with 穿 (chuān) to describe wearing it and 穿上 (chuānshàng) for the act of putting it on.