大腿 (dà tuǐ) — thigh

Definition

noun
thigh
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 大腿
    Tā pǎo bù de shí hou dà tuǐ jī ròu lā shāng le.
    He pulled a thigh muscle while running.
  • 大腿
    Zhè tiáo duǎn kù tài duǎn le, lián dà tuǐ dōu zhē bú zhù.
    These shorts are too short—they don't even cover the thighs.
  • 大腿
    Tā de dà tuǐ shàng yǒu yí kuài yū qīng.
    She has a bruise on her thigh.

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.

大 means big and 腿 means leg, so together they name the thigh.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
ròuflesh
Sound part声符shēngfú
退
退tuìtuǐ
Same sound today

The 肉 part is flesh, showing a body part; the 退 part gives the sound.

Open 腿 →
Appears in

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