掰腕子 (bāi wàn zi) — arm wrestling

Definition

A colloquial verb meaning 'to arm-wrestle' — the activity itself, used in casual speech. The standalone 掰 alone just means 'to pry apart', so 掰腕子 must be kept together.

verb
arm wrestling

Examples

  • 掰腕子。
    Wǒ men liǎ lái bāi wàn zi ba.
    Let's have an arm-wrestling match, you and me.
  • ，。
    Tā lì qi hěn dà, wǒ cóng lái méi bāi yíng guò tā de wàn zi.
    He's very strong — I've never beaten him at arm wrestling.
  • ，。
    Wǒ men bāi le sān cì wàn zi, wǒ yíng le yí cì.
    We arm-wrestled three times, and I won once.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

掰bāiwrench
腕子arm
腕wànwrist子zǐending

掰 conveys wrenching, and 腕子 refers to the arm; together they describe arm wrestling.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

掰 puts 分 between two 手, showing something being pulled apart between the hands.

Open 掰 →

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
⺼Written in full as肉ròumeat, body part
Sound part声符shēngfú
宛
宛wǎn腕wàn
Same sound today

腕 pairs ⺼ (meat/body part) with 宛, which gives the sound; the ⺼ part marks it as a body part.

Open 腕 →

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

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Open 子 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.