Chinese word

扭头

Pronunciation

Pinyinniǔ tóu

Meaning

  • verbturn around

Example

听到声音，他就扭头看了看。tīng dào shēng yīn tā jiù niǔ tóu kàn le kàn

Hearing a sound, he turned around and looked.

Illustration for 扭头 (turn around)

More examples

看到熟人从远处走来，她下意识地扭头一看。kàn dào shú rén cóng yuǎn chù zǒu lái tā xià yì shí dì niǔ tóu yí kàn

When she saw an acquaintance walking over from far away, she instinctively turned her head for a quick look.

Core concept

The head swivels briefly toward a new point of attention, often behind the body.

Common phrases

  • 扭头一看niǔ tóu yí kàn

    turn around and take a quick look

  • 扭头走开niǔ tóu zǒu kāi

    turn around and walk away

Similar words

转头zhuǎn tóu: Turn the head for a moment to look toward something nearby.
转身zhuǎn shēn: Rotate the body completely so it faces another way.
回头huí tóu: Turn around to look back toward something behind.

Definition in Chinese

转动头部以看向某人或某物，常指短促的回望或观察。zhuǎn dòng tóu bù yǐ kàn xiàng mǒu rén huò mǒu wù cháng zhǐ duǎn cù de huí wàng huò guān chá

Word origin

扭 (niǔ, "twist") + 头 (tóu, "head") combines a movement word with the body part being moved, making the word's meaning transparent.

Usage tips

  • In spoken Chinese, this verb often marks a brief reaction to a sound, movement, or nearby person, which makes it useful for narrating quick shifts of attention.

Other meanings

  • look backverb
  • turn one's headverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word