(xiàng pí) - rubber, eraser in Mandarin

xiàngpí

Traditional: 橡皮

#5656 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

rubber, eraser

Stroke order

橡

皮

Examples

。

I rubbed out the wrong character with an eraser.

。

Please lend me your rubber.

，。

This rubber is too hard, it doesn't rub out cleanly.

铅qiān。

There are two rubbers in my pencil case.

。

Children like collecting rubbers of different shapes.

橡皮 (xiàngpí) is the rubber, the small block used to erase pencil marks (British English "rubber", American English "eraser"). 橡 (xiàng) refers to rubber trees and rubber material, and 皮 (pí) means "skin, hide, a thin flat piece", so the compound describes the material rather than the shape.

It comes up alongside 铅笔 (qiānbǐ), "pencil", almost every time: 用橡皮擦掉 (yòng xiàngpí cā diào), "to rub out with an eraser", where 擦 (cā) is the verb "to rub, to wipe".

The measure word is 块 (kuài), used for chunky, block-shaped objects: 一块橡皮 (yí kuài xiàngpí), "one rubber".

Where this fits

The 1,000 most common Mandarin words

Where this word sits in the core vocabulary, and what to learn around it.

Mandarin vocabulary by HSK level

How many words each level actually needs, with real counts.

Mandarin learning guides

Podcasts, pronunciation traps and the things a word list cannot teach.

Add to review queue

Track this word in your spaced-repetition queue and be tested on it at the right interval.

Go to my review queue

Mandarin · Free printables

橡皮: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "橡皮" (rubber, eraser): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

Free for members

The printable worksheets, infographics and PDFs are free with an account. Start a free week and download as many as you like.

Start your free week

This word is part of lesson 109.