Chinese word

嘴

Pronunciation

Pinyinzuǐ

Meaning

  • nounmouth

Example

妈妈叫孩子张开嘴。mā mā jiào hái zi zhāng kāi zuǐ

Mother tells the child to open their mouth.

Illustration for 嘴 (mouth)

More examples

小鸟用嘴吃东西。xiáo niǎo yòng zuǐ chī dōng xī

The little bird eats with its beak.

Core concept

The mouth area as an active opening: it receives food and releases breath or voice, while a bird's version projects outward as its beak.

Common phrases

  • 张开嘴zhāng kāi zuǐ

    open one's mouth

  • 闭上嘴bì shàng zuǐ

    close one's mouth

  • 用嘴说话yòng zuǐ shuō huà

    speak with one's mouth

Similar words

口kǒu: The standard body-part term for the opening used to eat, breathe, and speak.
嘴巴zuǐ bā: A warm, conversational term for someone's mouth.

Definition in Chinese

面部的开口器官，用于进食、呼吸和发声，是口的通俗称呼，也可以指鸟类的喙。miàn bù de kāi kǒu qì guān yòng yú jìn shí hū xī hé fā shēng shì kǒu de tōng sú chēng hū yě ké yǐ zhǐ niǎo lèi de huì

Word origin

The written form 嘴 (zuǐ, "mouth") uses 口 (kǒu, "mouth") together with the phonetic element 觜 (zuǐ, "beak"), reflecting its basic physical meaning.

Usage tips

  • When the owner is clear, Chinese often leaves out the possessive before this body-part noun, so the sentence structure can be shorter than the English equivalent.

Other meanings

  • beaknoun

Related words

Word lists with this word