下颚 (xià è) — mandible (lower jaw) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

mandible (lower jaw)

Examples

下颚，。
Yī shēng zǐ xì jiǎn chá le tā de xià è, què rèn méi yǒu gǔ zhé.
The doctor carefully examined his mandible and confirmed there was no fracture.
下颚。
Rén lèi de xià è yǔ lú gǔ tōng guò niè xià hé guān jié xiāng lián.
The human mandible connects to the skull through the temporomandibular joint.
下颚，。
Zhè tiáo yú de xià è fēi cháng qiáng zhuàng, néng qīng yì yǎo suì bèi ké.
This fish's mandible is very strong and can easily crush seashells.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

下 “lower” specifies the position of 颚 “jaw”, the lower jaw.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

下 is drawn as a short horizontal line below a long curved line.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 顎; 颚 is its simplified writing.

咢頁顎

Meaning part形符xíngfú

頁頁yè

Sound part声符shēngfú

咢

咢è顎

Same sound today

The traditional form 顎 pairs 頁, the part carrying the meaning, with 咢, which gives the sound; the simplified 颚 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

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