大牙 (dà yá) — molar; front tooth

Definition

大牙 can mean either a molar (the big back teeth for chewing) or a front tooth / incisor — context decides. Colloquial; in clinical or formal contexts, 磨牙 or 门牙 is more precise.

noun
molarfront tooth
Measure word · 颗
Easily confused

Examples

  • 大牙。
    Tā de xiào hua ràng rén xiào diào dà yá.
    His joke made people laugh their heads off.
  • 大牙。
    Wǒ de dà yá téng le sān tiān le.
    My molar has been hurting for three days.
  • ，大牙。
    Tā shuāi le yì jiāo, kē diào le yì kē dà yá.
    He fell and knocked out a front tooth.

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.

大dàlarge
牙yátooth

'大' means large and '牙' means tooth; together they denote a large tooth, especially a molar.

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 牙 →

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