‘篮子’ (lán zi) is a common, colloquial noun meaning ‘basket’—a container typically made of woven materials like bamboo, plastic, or wire, used for carrying, storing, or sorting items. The first character, 篮 (lán), originally refers to a woven vessel and carries the core semantic meaning; the second character, 子 (zi), is a diminutive or nominal suffix that turns the root into a concrete, countable object—similar to how ‘-let’ or ‘-ette’ functions in English. Together, they form a familiar, everyday word used in homes, markets, and workshops.

This word appears frequently in domestic and practical contexts: shopping at wet markets, carrying laundry, gathering fruits, or organizing household goods. While formal writing may use more precise terms like ‘竹篮’ (bamboo basket) or ‘购物篮’ (shopping basket), ‘篮子’ itself is neutral in register and widely understood across age groups and regions. It’s often modified by measure words like ‘一个’ (yī gè) or ‘这只’ (zhè zhī), and commonly paired with verbs like ‘提’ (carry), ‘装’ (fill), or ‘放’ (place).