Radical 衣

6 strokes

lid 亠 (25b) + dress (436a) = clothes 衣

When this appears as the left-hand side of characters it is squashed into the distorted form 衤 (see 439a below). Originally it was a cloak, but now it can be any piece of clothing.

[大衣 (47) dàyī overcoat]

[洗衣机 (139, 10) xǐyījī washing machine]

She lifts the lid of the box to reveal a beautiful dress— she has never been given clothes like this as a present before. / She doesn’t know that the giant is her secret admirer and that he wants to see her looking her best at the Easter parade.