骨头 (gǔ tou) — bone (of a human or animal); fig. toughness, stubbornness (in 硬骨头, 啃骨头); bitterness or resentment (hidden inside)
Definition
Literally 'bone' (人/动物的骨头). In idioms like 硬骨头 and 啃骨头, it shifts to mean toughness or a hard problem. As a body-part noun it's unrelated to 骨骼, which means the whole skeleton.
noun
bone (of a human or animal)fig. toughnessstubbornness (in 硬骨头, 啃骨头)bitterness or resentment (hidden inside)
Measure word · 根, 块
Examples
- 骨头。Xiǎo gǒu zài kěn yì gēn gǔ tou.The puppy is gnawing on a bone.
- ，。Tā shì kuài yìng gǔ tou, shuí dōu bú pà.He's a tough nut, afraid of nobody.
- 骨头。Zhè ge nán tí dà jiā dōu zài kěn gǔ tou.Everyone is struggling with this hard problem.
Appears in
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