Chinese word

捂

Pronunciation

Pinyinwǔ

Meaning

  • verbcover

Example

他用被子捂住宝宝。tā yòng bèi zi wǔ zhù báo bǎo

He covers the baby with a quilt.

Illustration for 捂 (cover)

More examples

听到爆炸声，他本能地用手捂住了嘴。tīng dào bào zhà shēng tā běn néng dì yòng shǒu wǔ zhù le zuǐ

When he heard an explosion, he instinctively covered his mouth with his hand.

Core concept

A hand or object presses over something to separate it from the outside, keeping it unseen, sheltered, or warm.

Common phrases

  • 捂住wǔ zhù

    cover

  • 捂嘴wǔ zuǐ

    cover your mouth

  • 捂耳朵wǔ ér duǒ

    cover your ears

Similar words

盖gài: Covers something by placing a lid, cloth, or other object over its top.
覆盖fù gài: Covers an entire surface or a wide area completely with a cloth or other object.
遮zhē: Blocks light, sight, or sound with a hand or object.
掩盖yǎn gài: Hides facts or faults so they do not become known.

Definition in Chinese

用手或物体覆盖住某物，使其不露出或不受外界影响。yòng shǒu huò wù tǐ fù gài zhù mǒu wù shǐ qí bú lù chū huò bú shòu wài jiè yíng xiǎng

Word origin

The character 捂 (wǔ, "cover") combines 扌 (shǒu, "hand") with 吾 (wú, "I"), whose sound helps indicate the pronunciation while the hand component points to the action.

Usage tips

  • A following result complement can show that the covering stays in place, while the bare verb focuses more on the act of covering.

Other meanings

  • keep warmverb
  • blockverb
  • hideverb

Opposites

  • 揭开jiē kāiuncoververb
  • 露出lù chūexposeverb

Related words

  • 捂住wǔ zhùcoververb

Word lists with this word