梳头 (shū tóu) — to comb one's hair | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A separable verb meaning 'to comb one's hair' — 梳 and 头 often split, e.g. 梳了五分钟头. Refers specifically to grooming hair, not styling it.

verb

to comb one's hair

梳头。
Tā měi tiān zǎo shàng dōu yào shū tóu.
She has to comb her hair every morning.
。
Tā shū le wǔ fēn zhōng tóu.
She combed her hair for five minutes.
。
Wǒ shū guò sān cì tóu.
I've combed my hair three times.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

梳 means to comb, and 头 points to the head being combed.

Characters in this word

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

疏

Same sound today

The shape pairs 木 (wood) with 疏, which gives the sound.

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 頭; 头 is its simplified writing.

豆頁頭

Meaning part形符xíngfú

頁頁yèhead

Sound part声符shēngfú

豆

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 頭 shows 頁, meaning head, beside 豆 as a sound component; the simplified 头 is a later shorthand.

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