Chinese word

拍手

Pronunciation

Pinyinpāi shǒu

Meaning

  • verbclap

Example

听完演出，观众开始拍手。tīng wán yǎn chū guān zhòng kāi shǐ pāi shǒu

After the performance, the audience started clapping.

Illustration for 拍手 (clap)

More examples

志愿者帮助灾民后，现场的人们为他们拍手。zhì yuàn zhě bāng zhù zāi mín hòu xiàn chǎng de rén men wèi tā men pāi shǒu

After the volunteers helped the disaster victims, the people there clapped for them.

Core concept

A shared rhythm of striking hands lets a group show support without words.

Common phrases

  • 为...拍手wèi pāi shǒu

    clap for ___

  • 大家拍手dà jiā pāi shǒu

    everyone claps

  • 起立拍手qǐ lì pāi shǒu

    stand up and clap

Similar words

鼓掌gú zhǎng: Giving applause through hand-clapping publicly shows appreciation for a performance or achievement.
叫好jiào hǎo: Voicing praise in unison shows that a group approves of someone or something.
喝彩hè cǎi: Calling out loudly in praise encourages and celebrates a performer, team, or achievement.
欢呼huān hū: Shouting happily and loudly expresses shared joy, excitement, or expectation.

Definition in Chinese

用双手互相拍打以发出声响，用来表示赞赏、鼓励或对表演的回应。yòng shuāng shǒu hù xiāng pāi dǎ yǐ fā chū shēng xiǎng yòng lái biǎo shì zàn shǎng gǔ lì huò duì biáo yǎn de huí yìng

Word origin

拍手 (pāishǒu, "clap hands") is formed from 拍 (pāi, "strike or pat") and 手 (shǒu, "hand"), so its meaning is directly tied to striking with the hands.

Usage tips

  • The subject can be an audience, a crowd, or one person, because the word describes the action itself rather than a special audience role or group size.

Other meanings

  • applausenoun

Opposites

  • 喝倒彩hè dào cǎibooverb

Related words

  • 拍手声pāi shǒu shēngsound of applausenoun

Word lists with this word