Chinese word

抬头

Pronunciation

Pinyintái tóu

Meaning

  • verbraise one's head

Example

他听到声音就抬头看了看。tā tīng dào shēng yīn jiù tái tóu kàn le kàn

As soon as he heard a sound, he raised his head and took a look.

Illustration for 抬头 (raise one's head)

More examples

他在观众席上朝朋友抬头示意，让他准备。tā zài guān zhòng xí shàng cháo péng yǒu tái tóu shì yì ràng tā zhǔn bèi

He raised his head to signal to his friend in the audience to get ready.

Core concept

Something turns upward from a lowered position, either as a visible movement of the head or as a recovery from weakness.

Common phrases

  • 抬头示意tái tóu shì yì

    raise one's head to signal

  • 抬头一看tái tóu yí kàn

    look up and take a look

Similar words

抬起tái qǐ: Lift a body part or object upward from a lower position.
仰头yǎng tóu: Tilt the head upward or back to look toward a higher place.
仰望yǎng wàng: Raise the face to gaze steadily at something far away or high above.

Definition in Chinese

把头或面部抬高以改变观察方向，也可指事态或情绪等由低向高的转变。bǎ tóu huò miàn bù tái gāo yǐ gǎi biàn guān chá fāng xiàng yě kě zhǐ shì tài huò qíng xù děng yóu dī xiàng gāo de zhuǎn biàn

Word origin

The compound 抬头 (táitóu, "raise one's head") joins the action 抬 (tái, "lift") to 头 (tóu, "head"), making its physical and figurative upward senses easy to connect.

Usage tips

  • In everyday conversation, the verb often describes a brief reaction to a sound or sight, so it commonly appears before another action such as looking or speaking.

Other meanings

  • look upverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word