口袋 (kǒu dai) — pocket (in clothing); bag, sack | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

口袋 means a small bag or a pocket in clothing. Unlike 袋子 (a general bag), 口袋 is small enough to carry by hand or wear on the body.

noun

pocket (in clothing)bagsack

Measure word · 个

Examples

口袋。
Wǒ bǎ shǒu jī fàng zài kǒu dai lǐ le.
I put my phone in my pocket.
口袋。
Zhè ge kǒu dai kě yǐ zhuāng hěn duō shuǐ guǒ.
This bag can hold a lot of fruit.
口袋。
Qǐng bǎ zhè ge kǒu dai gěi wǒ.
Please give me this bag.

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.

口kǒumouth/opening

口 suggests an opening or mouth, and 袋 suggests a bag, together giving a small bag or pocket.

Characters in this word

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

The form 口 looks like an open mouth.

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

代衣袋

Meaning part形符xíngfú

衣衣yīclothes

Sound part声符shēngfú

代

代dài袋dài

Same sound today

袋 combines 衣 (clothes) with 代, where 衣 gives the meaning and 代 gives the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 Clothing 3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 5 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.