卡

卡 (Kangxi radical 25, 卜+3, 5 strokes, cangjie input 卜一卜 (YMY), four-corner 2123₁, composition ⿱上卜)

• 佧, 咔, 拤, 胩, 鉲(𰽩)

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 158, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 2781
• Dae Jaweon: page 362, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 92, character 4
• Unihan data for U+5361

Ideogrammic compound (會意 / 会意): 上 (“up”) + 下 (“down”) with fusion of the horizontal lines, representing being squeezed between above and below.

Maybe cognate with 夾 (OC *kreːb, “to clip”). This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

卡

1. to wedge; to get stuck; to be jammed; to become tightly wedged

   魚刺卡在喉嚨裡。 [MSC, trad.]
   鱼刺卡在喉咙里。 [MSC, simp.]

   Yúcì qiǎ zài hóulóng lǐ. [Pinyin]

   A fishbone is stuck in the throat.

2. to be stuck; to hold back, constrain

   公司無預警裁員，從此我的生活就卡在這裡。 [MSC, trad.]
   公司无预警裁员，从此我的生活就卡在这里。 [MSC, simp.]

   Gōngsī wú yùjǐng cáiyuán, cóngcǐ wǒ de shēnghuó jiù qiǎ zài zhèlǐ. [Pinyin]

   The company laid off employees without warning, and my life has been stuck here ever since.

   中央政府把地方的預算卡得死死的，什麼事都做不了。 [MSC, trad.]
   中央政府把地方的预算卡得死死的，什么事都做不了。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhōngyāngzhèngfǔ bǎ dìfāng de yùsuàn qiǎ de sǐsǐ de, shénme shì dōu zuò bùliǎo. [Pinyin]

   The central government is tightening the budget so much that the local governments can’t get anything done.

3. to withhold, refuse to give (a person or property)
4. to clamp with one's hands; to choke, throttle

   歹徒卡住他的脖子。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

   Dǎitú qiǎ zhù tā de bózi. [Pinyin]

   The ruffian choked him.

5. clip; clamp

   髮卡／发卡  ―  fàqiǎ  ―  hairpin

6. (historical) checkpoint; checkpost

   Synonym: 卡子 (qiǎzi)

   關卡／关卡  ―  guānqiǎ  ―  checkpoint

7. (dialectal) bottleneck; narrow pass
8. (computing) to freeze up; to buffer; to stop loading; to lag

   卡在奇怪的地方 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

   qiǎ zài qíguài de dìfāng [Pinyin]

   it stopped (loading) at a strange frame

9. (computing) laggy; slow; not responding

   電腦卡卡的跑不太動 [Taiwanese Mandarin, trad.]
   电脑卡卡的跑不太动 [Taiwanese Mandarin, simp.]

   diànnǎo kǎ kǎ de pǎo bù tài dòng [Pinyin]

   the computer is lagging and running super slow

10. (Gan) fishbone
11. a surname, Qia

From English card.

卡

1. card (Classifier: 張／张 m)

   卡片  ―  kǎpiàn  ―  card

   記憶卡／记忆卡  ―  jìyìkǎ  ―  memory card

   賀卡／贺卡  ―  hèkǎ  ―  celebration card

   刷卡  ―  shuākǎ  ―  to swipe one's card

   碌卡 [Cantonese]  ―  luk¹ kaat¹ [Jyutping]  ―  to swipe one's card

   電話卡／电话卡  ―  diànhuàkǎ  ―  phone card

• 卡片 (kǎpiàn)

From French calorie.

卡

1. short for 卡路里 (kǎlùlǐ)

From English car.

卡

1. truck; lorry

   卡車／卡车  ―  kǎchē  ―  truck

   貨卡／货卡  ―  huòkǎ  ―  cargo truck

2. railcar

   九卡列車／九卡列车 [Cantonese]  ―  gau² kaa¹ lit⁶ ce¹ [Jyutping]  ―  nine-car train

From French cassette.

卡

1. short for 卡式 (kǎshì, “cassette”)

   卡帶／卡带  ―  kǎdài  ―  cassette

   雙卡錄音機／双卡录音机  ―  shuāng kǎ lùyīnjī  ―  dual cassette recorder

From English khaki.

卡

1. short for 卡其 (kǎqí, “khaki fabric”)

   雙面卡／双面卡  ―  shuāngmiàn kǎ  ―  double-sided khaki

From English carat.

卡

1. (Hong Kong) carat (unit of weight equivalent to 200 milligrams)

卡

1. Used in transcription.

卡

1. (Hokkien) alternative form of 較 / 较 (“more”)

卡

1. (Hokkien) alternative form of 奇 (classifier)
   • 1994, “心愛的甭哭”, in 王月娛 (lyrics), 徐嘉良 (music), 歡喜就好, performed by 陳雷 [Chen Lei]:

     送你這卡無緣的手指　感謝你陪伴我這多年 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
     送你这卡无缘的手指　感谢你陪伴我这多年 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]

     sàng lí chit kha bô-iân ê chhiú-chí, kám-siā lí pôe-phōaⁿ góa chiah chōe nî [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

     [I] give you this unfated ring; thank you for being by my side all these years.

   • 2005, 郭之儀, “無緣的牽掛”, in 愛情衝衝衝, performed by 陳雷 [Chen Lei]:

     一卡皮箱裝滿愛妳的溫柔 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
     一卡皮箱装满爱你的温柔 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]

     chi̍t kha phôe-siuⁿ chng-boán ài lí ê un-liû [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

     A leather suitcase is filled with the gentleness of loving you

• 羅竹風 [Luo, Zhufeng], editor (1986–1994), “卡”, in 漢語大詞典 [Hanyu Da Cidian] (in Chinese), 1st edition, Shanghai: Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House, →ISBN
• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A00445
• “卡”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.
• “卡”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.

(Hyōgai kanji)

1. card

• Go-on: ぞう (zō)^{←ざふ (zafu, historical)}
• Kan-on: そう (sō)^{←さふ (safu, historical)}
• Tō-on: さ (sa)
• Kan’yō-on: か (ka)

卡 (eum 잡 (jap))

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卡: Hán Nôm readings: tạp, ca

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