Chinese word

指头

Pronunciation

Pinyinzhǐ tou

Meaning

  • nounfinger

Example

别动我的指头，很疼。bié dòng wǒ de zhǐ tou hěn téng

Don't touch my finger. It hurts.

Illustration for 指头 (finger)

More examples

他不小心把指头割伤了。tā bù xiǎo xīn bǎ zhǐ tou gē shāng le

He accidentally cut his finger.

Core concept

One separate, movable part at the end of the hand, used for touching, pointing, and holding things.

Common phrases

  • 指头发麻zhǐ tou fā má

    finger goes numb

  • 指头被夹zhǐ tou bèi jiā

    finger gets pinched

  • 指头受伤zhǐ tou shòu shāng

    finger is injured

Similar words

手指shóu zhǐ: The hand's fingers considered as a general group.
拇指mú zhǐ: The thumb, the sturdy digit at the side of the hand.
指尖zhǐ jiān: The small end part of a finger.

Definition in Chinese

手上末端的细长部分，通常指单个手指或其指尖。shǒu shàng mò duān de xì cháng bù fèn tōng cháng zhǐ dān gè shóu zhǐ huò qí zhǐ jiān

Word origin

The compound 指头 (zhǐtou, "finger") combines 指 (zhǐ, "finger") + 头 (tou, "head"), where 头 has developed into a colloquial noun ending for a part or extremity.

Usage tips

  • The word is common in spoken Chinese, so it often appears in ordinary remarks about hands rather than in formal or technical descriptions.

Related words

Word lists with this word