Chinese word

磕

Pronunciation

Pinyinkē

Meaning

  • verbbump

Example

我把头磕破了。wǒ bǎ tóu kē pò le

I bumped my head and broke the skin.

Illustration for 磕 (bump)

More examples

他骑车摔倒，腿上磕破皮了。tā qí chē shuāi dǎo tuǐ shàng kē pò pí le

He fell off his bike and scraped the skin on his leg.

Core concept

Contact with something hard produces a visible result, usually a minor injury or damaged surface.

Common phrases

  • 磕破皮kē pò pí

    scrape the skin

  • 磕伤kē shāng

    get injured by bumping

Similar words

碰pèng: Come into contact with someone or something by chance, with or without a light bump.
撞zhuàng: Strike against something or someone in a forceful collision.
擦cā: Scrape against a surface, leaving a mark or a rubbed-off area of skin.
划huà: Pull a sharp or hard object across a surface, leaving a cut or scratch.

Definition in Chinese

撞击硬物使身体或物体表面受损或出血，常用于描述小伤或碰撞的结果。zhuàng jī yìng wù shǐ shēn tǐ huò wù tǐ biǎo miàn shòu sǔn huò chū xuè cháng yòng yú miáo shù xiǎo shāng huò pèng zhuàng de jié guǒ

Word origin

The character 磕 (kē, "to bump") combines 石 (shí, "stone") as its meaning component with 盍 (hé, "close") as its phonetic component, linking the written form to hard impact and its pronunciation.

Usage tips

  • A result complement often follows this verb in everyday speech, making clear whether the contact leaves a break, scrape, or other damage instead of leaving the outcome unstated.

Other meanings

  • collideverb

Opposites

Related words

  • 磕碰kē pèngbump intoverb
  • 磕巴kē bāstutterverb

Word lists with this word