Chinese word

吐

Pronunciation

Pinyintù

Meaning

  • verbthrow up

Example

他吃坏了肚子，一直在吐。tā chī huài le dǔ zi yì zhí zài tù

He ate something bad and has been throwing up.

Illustration for 吐 (throw up)

More examples

他气得把口中的水吐了出来。tā qì de bǎ kǒu zhōng de shuǐ tǔ le chū lái

He was angry enough to spit out the water in his mouth.

Core concept

A forceful release from the mouth, whether stomach contents rise involuntarily or something is expelled deliberately.

Common phrases

  • 吐出tǔ chū

    spit out

  • 吐槽tǔ cáo

    complain

Similar words

呕吐ǒu tù: Expel stomach contents through the mouth because of nausea or illness, in formal or medical language.

Definition in Chinese

用口把胃里的东西排出体外，通常指呕吐的动作。yòng kǒu bǎ wèi lǐ de dōng xī pái chū tǐ wài tōng cháng zhǐ ǒu tù de dòng zuò

Word origin

吐 (tǔ, "spit out") is a phono-semantic character: 口 (kǒu, "mouth") supplies the meaning, and 土 (tǔ, "earth") supplies the sound.

Usage tips

  • In casual conversation, this short verb often stands alone after someone becomes sick, while an object is more likely when a particular substance is deliberately expelled.

Other meanings

  • spit outverb
  • spitverb
  • exhaleverb

Opposites

  • 吞下tūn xiàswallow downverb
  • 咽下yàn xiàswallowverb

Related words

Word lists with this word