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獠牙 (liáo yá) — fang, tusk (of an animal)

Definition

獠牙 refers to long, sharp, protruding teeth — typically a wild animal's fangs or tusks, or a monster's in folklore. More vivid and menacing than the everyday 牙 ('tooth').

noun
fangtusk (of an animal)
Measure word · 颗

Examples

  • ，獠牙。
    Lǎo hǔ zhāng kāi dà zuǐ, lù chū fēng lì de liáo yá.
    The tiger opened its big mouth, revealing sharp fangs.
  • 獠牙，。
    Dú shé de liáo yá hán yǒu jù dú, bèi yǎo dào hěn wēi xiǎn.
    A venomous snake's fangs contain potent poison, so being bitten is very dangerous.
  • 獠牙，。
    Huà zhōng yāo guài de liáo yá yòu cháng yòu bái, shí fēn kě pà.
    The monster in the painting has long, white fangs and looks terrifying.

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.

獠liáofierce
牙yátooth

獠 gives a fierce sense and 牙 means tooth, so the meaning is sharp protruding teeth.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
犬犬quǎnbeast
Sound part声符shēngfú
尞
尞liáo獠
Same sound today

獠 puts 犬, a beast, beside 尞, which gives the sound liáo.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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Appears in
Body Parts

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