手背 (shǒu bēi) — back of the hand | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

back of the hand

Measure word · 个

Examples

手背。
shǒu bēi De pí fū bǐ shǒu zhǎng hòu yì xiē.
The skin on the back of the hand is thicker than that on the palm.
手背。
Tā bù xiǎo xīn bèi rè shuǐ tàng shāng le shǒu bēi.
He accidentally scalded the back of his hand with hot water.
，。
Tā bǎ shǒu bēi cáng zài shēn hòu, bú ràng wǒ kàn.
She hid the back of her hand behind her back and wouldn't let me see.

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.

The 背 of the 手 gives the back of the hand.

Characters in this word

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

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

北月背

Meaning part形符xíngfú

月Written in full as肉ròumeat

Sound part声符shēngfú

北

北běi背bèi

Same sound today

背 was first written as 北; 北 gives the sound, and 肉 (meat, written as 月 here) was added to separate it from 北’s north meaning.

Appears in

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