Chinese word

牙齿

Pronunciation

Pinyinyá chǐ

Meaning

  • nounteeth

Example

我的牙齿有点疼。wǒ de yá chǐ yóu diǎn téng

My teeth hurt a little.

Illustration for 牙齿 (teeth)

More examples

为了牙齿保健，我每天睡前用牙线清洁。wèi le yá chǐ bǎo jiàn wǒ měi tiān shuì qián yòng yá xiàn qīng jié

For dental care, I use dental floss to clean my teeth every night before bed.

Core concept

Hard, closely arranged structures in the mouth that cut food and break it into smaller pieces.

Common phrases

  • 定期检查牙齿dìng qī jiǎn chá yá chǐ

    have regular dental checkups

  • 使用牙线清洁牙齿shǐ yòng yá xiàn qīng jié yá chǐ

    clean teeth with dental floss

  • 牙齿保健yá chǐ bǎo jiàn

    dental care

Similar words

牙yá: A tooth, often referring to one tooth in everyday speech.
齿chǐ: A tooth or teeth, used mainly in written or formal language.
门牙mén yá: The pair of front teeth used to bite off food.
乳牙rǔ yá: A child's first teeth, which fall out and are replaced by permanent teeth.

Definition in Chinese

口腔中用于咬合的硬结构，由牙冠、牙根等部分组成，主要功能是切断和研磨食物。kǒu qiāng zhōng yòng yú yǎo hé de yìng jié gòu yóu yá guān yá gēn děng bù fèn zǔ chéng zhǔ yào gōng néng shì qiē duàn hé yán mó shí wù

Word origin

牙 (yá, "fang or tooth") + 齿 (chǐ, "tooth") combines two related characters for the hard structures used to bite and chew.

Usage tips

  • Chinese does not change this noun to show one tooth or more than one, so a measure word or the context gives the number.

Related words

  • 牙齿保健yá chǐ bǎo jiàndental carenoun

Word lists with this word