Chinese word

胳膊

Pronunciation

Pinyingē bó

Meaning

  • nounarm

Example

胳膊受伤了。gē bó shòu shāng le

My arm is injured.

Illustration for 胳膊 (arm)

More examples

他把手搭在她的胳膊上。tā bá shǒu dā zài tā de gē bó shàng

He placed his hand on her arm.

Core concept

The body's shoulder-to-hand limb, used as a flexible tool for lifting, holding, and reaching.

Common phrases

  • 挂在胳膊上guà zài gē bó shàng

    hang on one's arm

  • 胳膊疼gē bó téng

    have an aching arm

  • 抱着胳膊bào zhe gē bó

    hold one's arm

Similar words

手shǒu: The part beyond the wrist that grasps objects and touches things.
手臂shǒu bì: A standard written term for the shoulder-to-hand part of the body.
臂bì: A literary written term for the shoulder-to-hand part of the body.

Definition in Chinese

人体从肩部至手的肢体部分，包含上臂与前臂，主要用于举、抱、抓等动作。rén tǐ cóng jiān bù zhì shǒu de zhī tǐ bù fèn bāo hán shàng bì yǔ qián bì zhǔ yào yòng yú jǔ bào zhuā děng dòng zuò

Word origin

胳膊 (gēbó, "arm") is a fixed colloquial body-part compound, and the 月 (ròu, "flesh") component in both characters provides a visible clue to its meaning.

Usage tips

  • For everyday conversation, this is the natural noun for a person's arm, while more formal writing may use a different body-part term.

Related words

  • 胳膊肘gē bó zhǒuelbownoun

Word lists with this word