抬头 (tái tóu) — to raise one's head; to pick up, to improve (e.… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

抬头 is a separable verb: 抬 + 头 (head). The literal sense is 'to raise one's head'; figuratively it means a situation or business is improving.

verb

to raise one's headto pick upto improve (e.g., business, situation)

Examples

抬头。
Tā tái tóu kàn le kàn chuāng wài.
He raised his head and looked out the window.
，。
Tā tái le sān cì tóu, zhōng yú kàn jiàn le nà zhī niǎo fēi zǒu le.
He raised his head three times, and finally that bird flew away.
抬头。
Tā de shēng yì zhōng yú tái tóu le.
His business finally picked up.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

抬, 'raise', with 头, 'head', gives the action of lifting one's head.

Characters in this word

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

扌台抬

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

台

台tái抬tái

Same sound today

In 抬, the 扌 part relates to the hand, and 台 gives the sound.

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 頭; 头 is its simplified writing.

豆頁頭

Meaning part形符xíngfú

頁頁yèhead

Sound part声符shēngfú

豆

豆dòu頭tóu

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 頭 shows 頁, meaning head, beside 豆 as a sound component; the simplified 头 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 4 Body Parts

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