指尖 (zhǐ jiān) — fingertip | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

fingertip

Examples

指尖。
Tā yòng zhǐ jiān qīng qīng pèng le yí xià huā bàn.
She gently touched the petal with her fingertip.
，指尖。
Tán gāng qín shí, zhǐ jiān de lì liàng hěn zhòng yào.
When playing the piano, the strength of your fingertips is very important.
。
Tā zhǐ jiān shàng de shāng kǒu yǐ jīng yù hé le.
The wound on his fingertip has already healed.

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.

指 (finger) + 尖 (tip) names the pointed end of a finger.

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.

扌旨指

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

旨

旨zhǐ指zhǐ

Same sound today

The left part 扌 is the hand form 手. The right part 旨 gives the sound.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

小大尖

小小xiǎosmall
大大dàlarge

尖 puts 小 (small) above 大 (large), showing the width of an object gradually changing from small to large.

Appears in

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