Chinese word

玻璃

Pronunciation

Pinyinbō lí

Meaning

  • nounglass

Example

手机屏幕是玻璃的，所以要小心。shǒu jī píng mù shì bō lí de suó yǐ yào xiǎo xīn

The screen on the phone is made of glass, so be careful.

Illustration for 玻璃 (glass)

More examples

冬天，窗户上的玻璃常常起雾，视线会变得模糊。dōng tiān chuāng hù shàng de bō lí cháng cháng qǐ wù shì xiàn huì biàn de mó hú

In winter, window glass often fogs up, making it hard to see.

Core concept

A hard, brittle material that lets light pass through and can be shaped into windows, screens, and containers.

Common phrases

  • 玻璃制品bō lí zhì pǐn

    glass products

  • 玻璃杯bō lí bēi

    glass cup

  • 玻璃窗bō lí chuāng

    glass window

Similar words

塑料sù liào: A light, durable material made artificially and resistant to breaking.
陶瓷táo cí: A hard, breakable material made by shaping and firing clay or other earth-based materials.
金属jīn shǔ: A hard, durable material such as iron or aluminum.

Definition in Chinese

一种由二氧化硅等原料熔融后冷却形成的透明或半透明的硬脆材料，常用于窗户、容器、手机屏幕等。yì zhǒng yóu èr yǎng huà guī děng yuán liào róng róng hòu lěng què xíng chéng de tòu míng huò bàn tòu míng de yìng cuì cái liào cháng yòng yú chuāng hù róng qì shǒu jī píng mù děng

Word origin

玻璃 (bōlí, "glass") is a borrowed name whose characters were chosen mainly for their historical sounds, not to build a literal definition from two modern character meanings.

Usage tips

  • English often leaves the material meaning and the container meaning to context, whereas Chinese keeps the container word distinct, making 杯子 (bēizi, "cup") the everyday choice for a drinking glass.

Opposites

Related words

  • 玻璃制品bō lí zhì pǐnglasswarenoun
  • 玻璃碎片bō lí suì piànglass shardnoun

Word lists with this word