牙关 (yá guān) — mandibular joint; jaw joint | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literally 'jaw joint' (the hinge of the jaw), but in everyday use it almost always appears in the set phrase 咬紧牙关 — 'to clench one's jaw' and figuratively 'to grit one's teeth / steel oneself'.

noun

mandibular jointjaw joint

Examples

牙关。
Tā téng dé yǎo jǐn le yá guān.
He clenched his jaw from the pain.
牙关，。
Yī shēng jiǎn chá le tā de yá guān, shuō méi wèn tí.
The doctor checked his jaw and said there was no problem.
，。
Jǐn zhāng de shí hou, tā zǒng shì bú zì jué dì yǎo jǐn yá guān.
When nervous, he unconsciously clenches his jaw.

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.

牙 names the teeth, and 关 names a joint or hinge, together giving the jaw joint.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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 關; 关 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

門門méndoor

Sound part声符shēngfú

𢇅

𢇅𢇅關guān

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For 关, the traditional form 關 shows 門 as a door and 𢇅 as two wooden sticks locking it, with ring-like marks on top.

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