Chinese word

捉迷藏

Pronunciation

Pinyinzhuō mí cáng

Meaning

  • nounhide-and-seek

Example

孩子们在公园里玩捉迷藏。hái zi men zài gōng yuán lǐ wán zhuō mí cáng

The children are playing hide-and-seek in the park.

Illustration for 捉迷藏 (hide-and-seek)

More examples

我们小时候经常在院子里玩捉迷藏。wǒ men xiǎo shí hòu jīng cháng zài yuàn zi lǐ wán zhuō mí cáng

As children, we often played hide-and-seek in the yard.

Core concept

A shared game of disappearing and searching, with discovery passing the searching role to another player.

Common phrases

  • 玩捉迷藏wán zhuō mí cáng

    play hide-and-seek

Similar words

躲猫猫duǒ māo māo: A children's game in which a seeker looks for hidden children.
藏猫猫cáng māo māo: A children's game in which children hide until another player discovers them.

Definition in Chinese

儿童常玩的游戏，通常由一人作为寻找者，其他人藏匿并尽量不被找到，找到了就交换角色。ér tóng cháng wán de yóu xì tōng cháng yóu yì rén zuò wéi xún zhǎo zhě qí tā rén cáng nì bìng jǐn liàng bú bèi zhǎo dào zhǎo dào le jiù jiāo huàn jué sè

Word origin

The compound joins 捉 (zhuō, "catch"), 迷 (mí, "be lost"), and 藏 (cáng, "hide") to evoke finding people who have hidden themselves from view.

Usage tips

  • The English form usually needs the verb play, but Chinese can place 捉迷藏 (zhuōmícáng, "hide-and-seek") after a subject as the activity being done, especially with 玩 (wán, "play").

Other meanings

  • play hide-and-seekverb

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