老鼠

lǎoshǔ

Traditional: 老鼠

#1919 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

mouse, rat

Word origin

A compound of the prefix 老 (lǎo, an affectionate or habitual marker often used with animal names) and 鼠 (shǔ, a pictograph of a rodent with teeth and tail), naming the mouse or rat.

Origin
compound
Root
老 (lǎo, animal-name prefix) + 鼠 (shǔ, rodent)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 老

Stroke order for 鼠

Examples

There is a mouse in the kitchen.

The cat caught that mouse.

Mice are afraid of cats.

He was startled by a mouse.

These rats have gnawed through quite a few things.

老鼠 (lǎo shǔ) means a mouse or rat; Chinese does not routinely distinguish the two and relies on context. The 老 here is a conventional prefix rather than a literal old.

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This word is part of lesson 39.